Hunches
by Senshi'sBard
Summary: A series of post-episode oneshots following Mamoru and Usagi through the 3rd season Supers . Includes poker games, bribery by chocolate, French toast, prophetic dreams of the world's impending demise, and lots and lots and lots of bickering.
1. Hunches

Everyone loves aimless banter from Mamoru and Usagi (or I do, anyway). This little piece started out having a point, but the idea of writing something worthwhile was soon destroyed. Probably because I didn't stop soon enough. I just really liked the idea of Usagi and Mamoru having a really pointless transformation-battle-failure for no good reason.

This takes place after the R arc ends and before S begins. Yes, I rewatched an episode or two to refresh my memory. Yes, I did that halfway through writing this - so if there are any inconsistencies, please let me know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Usagi/Sailor Moon or Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen, except in my mind, which is a very special place where lawsuits are not allowed.

_____________

His classes were late that day, and when he finally got home, Mamoru barely had time to drop his books on the kitchen counter before a knock rattled the door to his apartment.

"Mamo-chan?"

It was sincerely remarkable, he thought, striding over to unlatch the lock, how just hearing those three syllables from an all-too-familiar voice could drag a smile over his face. He inched the door open just a crack and poked an eye through the slit. "Who goes there?" he said in a low voice.

Usagi raised her head; he met her eyes, overflowing with concern, and immediately dropped the playful attitude. "What's wrong, Usako?" He wrenched the door fully open.

Her lower lip quivered pitifully. "I worked so hard, Mamo-chan," she said, her voice cracked and wobbling. "You helped me so much, and I got help from Ami-chan, too, and I studied on my own and I tried my _absolute hardest…_" She pressed a scrunched paper into his hands while hanging her head in shame. Mamoru fought back a grin as he watched her odangos pop up from the back of her head.

"Let's see, then," he said solemnly, and turned over the paper. A large red mark designated her grade: an eighty-three percent. "Usako!" he said. "What are you so sad about? This is much better!"

She glanced up once more, tears pooling in her eyes; the lip shuddered uncontrollably. "It's just - it was my _absolute hardest_, and if this is my _absolute hardest…_" Her fists balled up at her sides and her entire body began to quake in despair and frustration.

Mamoru sighed inwardly and stepped forward to crush her into his chest. Her arms looped around his waist as the tears exploded in a gush of sobs against his shirt. "H-h-how can I p-p-_possibly _be worthy to… to rule Crystal Tokyo if… if my absolute h-hardest is an _eighty-three…" _She broke off with a quiet wail and clutched desperately at his shirt from behind, tightening the collar almost uncomfortably against his throat. With a grip as strong as hers, Mamoru thought wryly, he wouldn't be surprised if she tore it straight in half.

"Come on, Usako," he muttered, gently leading her into the apartment and tapping the door shut with his foot. His shirt remained within her iron grasp all the while, and he abandoned the idea of perhaps moving into the apartment; instead, he rubbed her back soothingly, kissed that soft hair between her odangos, shushed her in murmurs. Finally, she emerged, sniveling rapidly, her chest still heaving at an uncanny pace. Taking one of her hands from behind, he led her to the couch and ducked into the bathroom to procure a box of tissues. She gratefully blew her nose with the grace of a loud goose honk.

"Sorry, Mamo-chan," she whispered, her voice now raw and dry. "I always do that to you."

"Don't be," he mumbled back, drawing an arm around her shoulders. She scooted closer into his embrace and laid her head on his collarbone; silence enshrouded them, broken sporadically by the odd sniffle from Usagi.

"Usako?" said Mamoru after a while.

"Hm?"

"I've got a hunch," he said. "Is this about Chibiusa?"

He felt her grow still and contemplative in his arms. "Maybe," she said, very slowly. "Maybe it is. I miss her, Mamo-chan. All I ever did was fight with her and I miss her… and to think, I was so _mean _to her, when all along she was my… she was my…"

She couldn't bring herself to say it.

Mamoru heaved a low sigh. "Usako," he said, "during times such as these, I feel it is my duty to remind you of something."

She glanced up at him, surprised and slightly suspicious at his sudden formality. "What?"

He leaned down to her ear and said softly, "You're only fifteen -" He poked her shoulder gently. "-_kid."_

"_Kid?" _she said in outrage, shrugging out of his arm. "Chiba Mamoru, you name one other _kid _in the world who just traveled to the future and destroyed the enemies that even _her own future self _couldn't take on, alright, and _then _maybe you can call me kid, but only _then!"_

He chuckled to himself and crossed his arms.

"What's so funny?" she cried, her tear-stained face blotched with red patches of indignation.

"Oh, nothing," he replied vaguely. "You've just proved my point, is all."

Her eyes narrowed. "Your point?"

"Mmhm." He extracted one arm to fiddle with the end of one of her pigtails. "You have to be _the _oldest fifteen I've ever met. There is no other girl your age who's been put up against the same things you've fought - and beaten. But you're still just fifteen, Usako, and that's far too young to have a _daughter_."

The word was out, and Usagi flinched quite noticeably.

Unperturbed, Mamoru continued, "Chibiusa was like your little sister. Siblings fight. Give yourself a break once and a while, and take an eighty-three percent, hm?"

She sat quite still for a long time, processing this, a pronounced frown etched over her features. "I heard someone say once," she murmured, "that if we were graded in real life like we were in school, we'd all be dead meat." Then she giggled, blushing a rosy pink that smoothed out her flushed face. "Oh. Wasn't that you who said that, Mamo-chan?"

He grinned. "I think it was."

Tucking her legs up onto the couch, she leaned into him with a sigh. "You're very wise."

He rested his cheek atop her hair. "I've accepted that as my fate, yes."

He could almost feel her brow snap down. "And humble?" she prodded him acerbically.

"Oh, absolutely." Mamoru felt the grin spreading wider, and marveled at how easy it was to smile around her. He was frequently facetious around his friends, a trait which went over their heads as often as not (in Motoki's case, especially), but he never got as much enjoyment out of it as he did with Usagi. "That too, very humble."

She elbowed him in the ribs, but lost her balance in the process and flopped across his lap with a brief shriek. She looked so funny there, half on her side and half on her back, her eyes wide in surprise, her hair twisted around her neck, that beautiful pink flush still gracing her cheeks - He didn't even know he was kissing her until, well, he _was_.

She responded briefly but broke away far too soon, seemingly content just to curl up against him with her breath gently nuzzling his neck.

"Sorry," said Mamoru after a pause. "Bad timing?"

"Well…" He felt her shudder slightly. "Mamo-chan, I - I'm scared."

Of all things, he certainly hadn't expected _that_. "Of what?"

She sighed again and took his hand, pressed it under her chin. "Isn't it just so…" She mulled over her words carefully. "… so unnatural to know our future? I mean, it's just not _right_. We shouldn't know what we're going to do before we do it, and we shouldn't know what happens before… before it _does_. How can we ever feel like we've got choices to make, otherwise? How can I…" She swallowed heavily. "How can I dream about doing the things I've always wanted to do, like… like… I don't know. Just crazy whims, like being in movies with Minako-chan, or… but yeah, what about the others, Mamo-chan? Mako-chan wants her cake shop so badly, and Ami-chan wants to be a doctor, and Rei-chan wants… wants to boss people around and make lots of money, and how are they supposed to do that if they're all just going to end up as Senshi in Crystal Tokyo in who _knows _how many years?" She finished her rant and took a deep breath. "It's just not _right_, knowing the future. We'd live differently if we didn't."

Mamoru frowned to himself. "I can see why you're so concerned, Usako, but… time travel's tricky business." He snorted; the words sounded so ridiculous to him. "_Time travel_, can you believe it? People have been writing about it for ages, and _we're _the ones who've actually experienced it."

Usagi lifted her chin to smirk at him. "Let me see: Mamo-chan has always dreamed of being a science fiction hero, right?"

For all that Rei was the self-proclaimed sarcastic one of the Senshi, Usagi sure could give her a run for her money. "I might have been mildly intrigued by the subject at one point, perhaps," he said loftily.

Usagi giggled and kissed his jaw. "You're such a geek, Mamo-chan." She snuggled into his shoulder. "So are you going to tell me why I shouldn't be afraid now?"

She did sound rather impatient to be relieved of her worries. "Well," he said, his voice calm and even, "we are where we are. We know what we know. All we can do is live for today, going on what we have."

"I thought of that myself," said Usagi disparagingly.

"I'm terribly sorry for repeating one of your thoughts," Mamoru replied with the utmost respect.

Usagi laughed. "What I meant was, I thought of that myself, _and -" _She paused emphasize the importance of her intention to carry on.

"Please continue," Mamoru said drily.

She snickered, a nasally little sound that for all its impudence was irrevocably adorable. "_And_, it makes me wonder, why we never live for today anyway. I mean, I want to ignore everything that happened in the future, but then knowing that things will end up that way is so… not motivational. But if I didn't know what was going to happen, I would be living and doing my school work and aiming for a future that might not even happen before… you know. The real future comes around, and then it doesn't matter if I know geometry."

"It could come in handy," Mamoru pointed out in his most sensible tone. "You never know."

"_Eurgh_, but Mamo-chan, it makes my brain hurt!" She clutched her head between her hands dramatically.

"Geometry, or trying to construct a valid philosophy?"

"_Both_," she said decisively.

Absentmindedly, he tugged at the collar of her school fuku. "We could live for the moment, then," he suggested, "and play poker."

Immediately her eyes lit up. "Okay!" And once more, her face fell abruptly – _rather like a roller coaster, _he thought distantly. "But Mamo-chan, I didn't bring any chips…"

A predicament, indeed; he didn't have any of his own, which was why Usagi frequently stole her father's. He lifted Usagi's leg up, ignoring her squeals of surprise, to get better access to his pocket. "Don't have much change," he said, finding mostly bills, and ground his teeth together thoughtfully. "We could play strip poker?" he suggested on a whim.

"_Eurgh_, Mamo-chan!" That reaction seemed to be popular today. She immediately shuffled off his lap and ended up, predictably enough, on the floor. With one look at her disgruntled uniform and matching expression, Mamoru couldn't help but howl with laughter.

"I was _joking_, Usako!" he said through snickers.

With an air of great dignity, Usagi stood, straightened her skirt, and picked up her bag which had been discarded at their feet, and marched toward the door. "You," she said over her shoulder, "Chiba Mamoru, _you_ are a pervert." She stuck her nose in the air.

He was still laughing; he couldn't help it, she made such a scene. "Come on, Usako, don't leave yet. We could bet with cookies."

A spark ignited in her eye like flint on steel. "Cookies?" she said, a jittery voice betraying her composed features.

Mamoru smirked. "Cookies."

"You get them," said Usagi, meandering back over with a rather forced air of complete detachment. She dug beneath the coffee table to withdraw the pack of cards. "I'll deal."

"No cheating," he ordered, rising from the couch to procure said cookies.

"Do _I _seem like the type to cheat, Mamoru-baka?" Usagi demanded shrilly.

"I always have to watch out with you, odango atama," he returned. The kitchen fairly lit up from his grin; that girl went through emotions faster than she went through breaths. Never a boring moment with Usako, he thought to himself with satisfaction, as he reached up to the cabinet and dug out her coveted prize. He kept them tucked safely under his arm as he returned to the table where she had set up their game; Usako could never be trusted for a moment around anything sweet.

As he sat on the floor across from her, she met his eyes with a cold glare. "I've decided," she said icily, "that I deserve two extra cookies for being called odango atama."

"I thought you decided you liked that after all," said Mamoru in a perfected attitude of nonchalance.

"Not when there are cookies at stake," she replied briskly. They stared each other down, and he watched the realization of her contradiction sink in behind her eyes, which grew milder and began to sparkle softly. The corners of her full lips wobbled; her nose twitched; and she fell backwards onto the floor in a gale of laughter. "What kind of cookies, Mamo-chan?" she asked between giggles.

He should have known that was coming. "Kabocha," he said.

At that, her eyes popped into view over the table; she zeroed in on the package beside him.

"But I have some green tea ones as back-up, knowing the rates you bid at." He tried to ignore how she was practically foaming at the mouth. What a crazy girl.

"Kabocha," she repeated faintly, and Mamoru frowned; perhaps he'd mistook her expression for ravenous, when really there was something almost sentimental blazing from her. "Chibiusa's favorite. I always fought with her over those."

"Usako." It was half-condolence, half-warning.

"I know, I know." She hugged her knees. "I wonder how she's doing, right now."

"I'm sure we can ask her, once she's _born_," said Mamoru emphatically.

A slight grin perked up her drawn face. "Oh yeah," she said rather impishly. "I keep forgetting she's not alive yet. It seems like she has to be, just in – in a parallel universe or something. This time travel stuff _is _hard."

He stared at her; she stared at the table. "Usako," he said again, more hesitantly.

Her light eyes flickered up to his.

"I've got another hunch," he admitted.

"Enlighten me, Mamo-chan," she drawled theatrically, sprawling her arms out over the table, which inevitably mussed her card layout.

"I don't think we'll be ruling Crystal Tokyo at any point sooner than we're ready. So there's really no need to imagine yourself doing anything other than what you like."

"_Eurgh, _but Mamo-chan…!"

_Not again_, he thought drearily.

"That makes it even harder!" Usagi continued. "Because I have _no _idea what I want to do with my _life!"_

"Well, you've got plenty of time to figure it out, and you already know what you're going to end up as anyway – "

"But you just said that I should imagine myself doing something normal!"

"I didn't mean that exactly, Usako, can't you take anything in moderation?"

"– but it's not my fault if you're the one who keeps contradicting yourself – "

"That's because you're not listening! I'm not saying that it's definitely going to be one way or the other – "

"– and you won't give me a straight answer, I'm just trying to figure out what in the world I _should _be worried about – "

"– I'm just saying that there _isn't _any need to worry, because either way things will end up how they should eventually!"

"Oh," said Usagi, suddenly at ease. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

Mamoru groaned, rubbing his temples. "Can we just play the damn game already, Usako?"

"I've_ been_ ready," she replied haughtily, and straightened her cards. "Hey, Mamo-chan, speaking of hunches…"

He ripped open the pack of cookies and began to divide them into piles. "What about them?"

"I have a hunch you're going down."

He glanced up and noticed her smirk before he realized that the two cards she'd dealt face up in front of herself were both kings. He looked down at his own hand: a four and a nine.

"Odango!" he cried. "What did we just discuss about you _not _being a cheater?"

"Oh, and that _must _be it, there isn't any possible way I could just be _lucky_, no, it must be that I'm _compromising my morals!"_

He took a fraction of a second to marvel at her usage of a mildly eloquent phrase before retaliating: "Convenient how your luck shoots through the roof when there are _cookies _involved!"

"Just because I never win any other time, then, I can't have a lucky streak! That is pure injustice, Mamoru – "

"You never had an incentive to cheat when we were playing with _chips!"_

"I said _injustice! _And do you know who I am?"

"A kid with an odango hairstyle?" Mamoru returned.

"NO."

Oh Lord, he thought, here she goes.

"For love and justice – "

"Usako, honestly, are you going to give me that?"

"– I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier, _Sailor Moon! _In the name of the moon, I will _punish you!" _And with that she launched, cat-like, over the table, over the cookies, and crashed into Mamoru, pushing him into the base of the couch.

"Jesus, Usako!"

"No," she growled, her face quite menacing for such a slip of a girl. "Not Jesus. _Sailor Moon_."

He had to laugh at that, and laugh he did, until he could have cried – and it wasn't even that funny, he knew, but with her making that face, he wouldn't have been surprised if she hadn't meant to make a joke.

He saw the corners of her mouth twitch, but she quickly grabbed up another cookie to disguise any signs of laughter. "Stand up, youma, and face me like a – man?" She shook her head, her pigtails whirling. "And face me like a _youma!"_

Mamoru cackled again, and stood silently, moving closer until he was hulking over her like some tall sinister shadow. "_I am no youma," _he whispered in her ear. He saw goose bumps break out over her skin, and grinned to himself.

"No difference," said Usagi coldly. "I will punish you all the same."

"Then watch out, Sailor Moon, because you're dealing with _Tuxedo Kamen_." He spun once, in place, and that was that; the cape billowed out, the mask settled onto his nose, and the silken caress of rose petals faintly washed over his skin.

"No kidding." Usagi gazed at him blandly, one hand on her hip. "I never would have guessed."

He ignored that, and stared her down, trying to focus the intensity that came so easily when up against an enemy on the lovely girl in front of him. It wasn't easy. "Beautiful maidens who cheat at cards must be punished," he hissed.

"Cape boys who make false accusations must be punished _more_," Usagi snarled. "_Moon Crystal Power Make-Up!"_

He faked a yawn as the blurs of colored light surrounded her momentarily, levitating her off the ground, and tried not to squint at her shapely silhouette; it was rather more tempting than it should have been. _She's only fifteen, you baka_, he scolded himself. _She'd call you a pervert_.

But he barely had time to blink before Sailor Moon was standing in front of him, her arms folded, her chin high. A sudden furrow edged its way into her brow. "So do I have to make another speech now, or what?"

"Please, spare me," said Mamoru. She glowered heartily.

"Fine then. I challenge you, _cape boy_, to a duel!"

He rubbed his nose, irritated. "Do you _have _to call me cape boy?"

"It's what you _are_ – oh, look, you spilled the cookies." She got onto her hands and knees and began to pick up the fallen stack of sweets, while Mamoru stared after her in confusion. He finally found the culprit in a smattering of crumbs atop his cape; he'd probably knocked them over when he transformed. He looked down at Usagi again to find her eating more cookies than she salvaged from the floor.

"So Sailor Moon's weakness has been discovered," he rumbled in his best Black Moon-esque voice. "_Kabocha cookies_." _And extreme distractability_, he added to himself.

"Well they're on the floor," said Usagi, her voice muffled by a full mouth, "so I wouldn't want them to…" She swallowed deliberately. "Go to waste."

Mamoru procured a rose – a more or less normal one, save for its exceptional fragrance and beauty – and let it drift to the ground beside Usagi. "_Shhhing_."

She glared up at him. "_Shhhing _what?"

"I was narrating." He pointed to the rose at her feet. "I just defeated you with my masterfully thrown poison-tipped rose. Accept your fate."

She gazed at him with the same expression as a bored cow. "It's a flower."

"A _poison-tipped _flower."

"It didn't even hit me."

"You just didn't notice."

"You're making this up."

"God damn it, Usako, do you actually want me to _fight _you?"

She grinned wickedly. "Maybe, maybe not."

"You are _infuriating_." _And that skirt is so damn short_, he found himself thinking. _Fifteen_, he repeated to himself quickly. _She is _fifteen_. _

"No," she mused, "just hungry." She shoved yet another cookie into her mouth.

"Do you want me to make you something? I wouldn't want you to destroy all the poker chips."

"Oh, is that still on?"

"I think the real question is why aren't we dueling right now?"

"Oh yeah." She stood up again. "Sorry. Easily sidetracked."

"I'll let it go. Where were we?"

"You dropped a non-deadly rose at my feet." She stooped and picked it up, twirling it dexterously between her fingers in order to avoid the thorns. "You know, mortal enemy Tuxedo Kamen, this seems more of a gesture of romance than of battle."

He smiled slightly. "Sometimes cape boys can have mortal enemies with very large appetites and very pretty faces."

"And sometimes Sailor Moon can have mortal enemies who wear tuxedos…" She took a step closer to him, running a finger down his chest. "…and look downright _sexy," _she finished in a whisper.

_Fifteen_, he thought quickly. _Dammit, Chiba, do _not _think about her like that._

But he didn't really have time to gain control of his thoughts, because suddenly she was kissing him, and then he couldn't think about anything at all, except how soft and sweet and demanding her lips were, and how light her tongue was, tracing over his mouth, and how his heart was threatening to beat its way straight out of his ribs.

Usagi drew back with a harsh intake of air and, without any warning whatsoever, tackled him straight back onto the couch, pushing him down and hitching her leg up around his waist with the other foot's toes gently stroking the top of his shoe. She drove her lips against his mercilessly, gently teasing his tongue with little flickers of her own until he had no choice but to drive his into her mouth, where she greeted it hungrily. Her hands tangled wildly in his hair, with his pressed against her back; his mask slid lopsided off his nose. She pulled away to breathe a bit and he pressed kisses against her neck, travelled up to the corner of her jaw, made his way across her nose; he felt goose bumps break out over her again and grinned against her cheek. She kissed his eyebrows, his forehead, his ear, even, before their poor deprived mouths met again.

"Usako," he said headily, jerking away, afraid he might go too far if left unhindered.

"What," she whispered against his chin.

"Do you realize how ridiculous this is?"

She slid her other knee up onto the couch so that she crouched over his waist, and cocked her head. "You mean that we're sitting here transformed for no apparent reason?"

"That was my first though, yeah."

"Well _I _don't care," she insisted boldly. "Do you care?"

They stared at each other for a moment, and in her eyes he saw the same truth that he was too afraid to admit: transformed, they felt a little braver, a little riskier, a little wilder. She smiled widely, affirming their mutual comprehension, before sliding one hand to his neck and kissing him like mad once more.

"Speaking of disguises," said Mamoru, running his nose along her cheekbone, "my pants in Crystal Tokyo were ridiculous." Of all the ways to distract himself, he had to choose _pants?_

Usagi erupted into laughter against his shoulder. "They were, weren't they? You never had very good fashion sense, though."

Highly affronted, he gaped at her. "What's wrong with it?"

"You always seem like you're going to a job interview," said Usagi frankly. "So uptight." She snickered. "So next time I try to get a summer job, can I borrow those pants?"

"You most certainly may not. They are the highly esteemed pants of King Endymion. There no other pants in the world as fine as they."

"Well I'm glad of one thing," she said. "That we're in _these _disguises instead of the future ones. That would make this whole thing a little too weird."

"Just because of the pants."

"Of course." She kissed him again, more slowly. "Here's another hunch, Mamo-chan. I love you."

"Usako, that's not a _hunch_. It's a fact."

She pouted, her lower lip drooping. "I was trying to make it related – erm, relevant? Is that the word?"

"Ten points to odango for vocabulary."

"Will you _ever _stop making fun of me?"

"Oh no, did that give you a clue to my identity?" He dropped his arm down, picked his mask up off the floor, and gasped. "My identity – it's compromised! She knows who I am!"

"Oh, do I," she growled. "That baka from the arcade who never stops poking fun at my hair."

"Who you were secretly in love with for years."

"I haven't known you for _years_, Mamoru-baka."

"But 'She secretly adored him for months' sounds much less dramatic."

"I did _not _secretly adore you. You were a jerk!"

"You _did _secretly adore Tuxedo Kamen."

"So?" Her eyes flashed in defiance and humor.

"So he's right here!" Mamoru said in what he knew was a rather nonsensical finale to his argument.

"That's true," said Usagi. "I guess I'll take what I can get."

He reached up to kiss her again but she retreated. "_You _were secretly in love with me," she said, a wide grin on her face. "Admit it. Admit it, admit it." She poked him in the chest with every demand.

"I was secretly, _ardently _in love with you. Happy?"

"Yes," she said smugly, and she let him kiss her again. "Mamo-chan, we never played poker."

"Strip poker?" he teased.

"_Eurgh_, Mamo-chan! Pervert!" She slammed the heels of her hands into his chest; he grunted as air whooshed out of him.

"Jesus, Usako, take it easy!" He massaged his ribs.

"I meant _cookie poker!" _she growled, scooting up to straddle his stomach. "In the name of the moon, I _command _you to play seven-card stud with me!"

"In the name of all that is holy, I might remind you that you ate all the cookies."

"Still in the name of the moon, I might remind _you_ that I only ate the ones your stupid cape pushed onto the floor, _cape boy_."

"I'm going to kill Minako for coming up with that," he grumbled. What an obnoxious nickname.

"Almost as good as odango?" Usagi taunted him.

"Not quite," Mamoru said. "You can't use cape boy in public."

"As if people would know what I meant," she said scornfully, tossing her pigtails. "Come on, Tuxedo Kamen. Sailor Moon has decided that your duel will take place over this round of poker." She clambered off of him and began to reshuffle the cards. "_And_," she added, "Sailor Moon will also prove to you that she is _not _a cheater."

He swung his legs around and dropped off the couch to sit across from her; his cape trailed down behind him rather majestically, or so he thought. "Tuxedo Kamen would like to politely inform Sailor Moon that when she shuffles the cards like that, she's not doing much to help her case." She was simply jamming the ends of the deck haphazardly into one another.

"You deal, then," she said, miffed, and tossed the cards in his direction.

As he snapped the cards into their proper cascade, he couldn't help feeling a bit intrigued by the promise of a good, solid round of poker. Tsukino Usagi had about the worst luck in the world, but it was common knowledge that Sailor Moon was very lucky indeed.

Usagi chomped down on another cookie.

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Rather OOC at points, hm? I thought so too, so if you have any suggestions on what to change, PLEASE please please tell me.

Reviews keep me happy. Happiness keeps me sane. Sanity keeps me alive. YOU HOLD MY LIFE IN YOUR HANDS. No pressure ;)


	2. Talents

So I've decided to embark on a little mission, which is to rewatch an episode of S every day (or as often as I can manage, with midterms coming up) and then write a sort of follow-up with Usagi and Mamoru (when appropriate). And just to be nice, I'll add a little recap of the episode for those of us who actually do their work instead of spending all their time rewatching Sailor Moon.

So without further ado, here's episode 90 (which is the sub number, of course).

Recap: Rei has a dream prediction the destruction of the world. The first Daimohn appears and tries to steal her pure heart. Sailor Moon/gang intervene, but the Daimohn breaks her brooch and she is DE-TRANSFORMED. *gasp* The Daimohn is destroyed by two mysterious people in sailor fukus, and there is much rejoicing when Rei's heart is returned. Also, Usagi gets a five percent on her English test, and Mamoru suggests not dating for a while so she can focus on studying. Hehehe. It's just too good of a set up.

Disclaimer: NOT MINE. WHICH IS WHY I'M USING THIS WEBSITE. NOT TOO HARD TO FIGURE OUT. ARRGH. CAPS LOCK.

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He practically fell over as a huge _BANG _rattled through the apartment. "_DAMMIT, MAMO-CHAN, OPEN THE DOOR!"_

Mamoru hastened to comply and found a red-faced Usagi, her pigtails mussed, her odangos lopsided, her school bag still hung over her shoulder. She looked like she could have murdered him right there just with mental telepathy – although, he thought fleetingly, she probably had no idea what telepathy was. And anyway, when was the last time someone died of a voice screaming bloody murder inside their own _heads? _He shook the thoughts away quickly; the realization of the new enemy was getting to him.

"S-something wrong, Usako?" he asked tentatively.

"_Oh, you've got some NERVE!" _she screeched, stomping past him and hurling her books at the floor. "Is something _wrong_, oh, no, everything's _wonderful_, except that Rei-chan's heart was _sucked out of her chest by some new youma who broke my BROOCH! _How in the hell am I supposed to transform?" She beat her fist consistently into the wall. "And I _couldn't – beat – that – Daimohn! Why couldn't I beat that Daimohn?! EURGHH!" _She slid down the wall, her forehead resting against it, her calves quivering in a very tense squat. "And I got a goddamn five percent on my test," she grumbled. "What a day."

"Doesn't sound so great," Mamoru agreed, cowering ever so slightly by the door.

"And who the hell were those – those people who gave Rei-chan's heart back? How did _they_ beat the youma? Are they helping us, or are they just… do they just want the same thing as the youma?" She drew in a heated breath. "UGH! THIS IS _RIDICULOUS! I'M SICK of all this, I JUST FINISHED with those RAPIST__DARK MOON PEOPLE and their STUPID DEATH PHANTOM, and CHIBIUSA'S GONE, and…" _Fuming, she pressed her palms against the wall as well.

He said nothing, afraid she might aim for his jugular if the wrong words slipped out.

Finally, she mustered the control to say, "Mamo-chan."

"Usako," he countered pleasantly.

"Why can't things stay _over _for once?" she muttered, more to herself than to him. "Why can't one enemy just be defeated and give us a breather before we have to head right back out again and do it all over? What if I can't beat them this time? I can't even transform now and even if I could, I'm not – I'm not _ready_. I'm not strong enough, Mamoru!"

He was frankly surprised she hadn't burst into tears by this point, but perhaps her rage was slightly distracting. Distractedly, he shoved a hand into his hair. "Remember how we decided to let things play out?" He bit his lip with the uncertainty he refused to let into his voice. "It'll work. That's one advantage to glimpsing the future, you know – you're going to defeat these enemies, because you _are _strong, Usako. So much more than you think you are."

Her breaths were shallower now, and she tilted her forehead slightly to glance up at him. "I'm tired of it. I'm flunking the ninth grade. Why can't they find a new Sailor Moon who _understands English?"_

He laughed a little and detached himself from the door. "Because they need you. You're the only one who can do it." He took a few steps toward her, now that she didn't seem so eager to tear his head off, and sat beside her on the floor. "And you're going to do it, Usagi. You always do. I know we just fought off the Dark Moon, but we've got to keep going." He sighed. "And besides, even if we weren't much use today, we're always there to back you up. _I'm _always there."

She gazed up at him, wide-eyed and tragic. It took his breath away, which made him feel rather guilty, since he probably ought to be focusing on the impending battles ahead of them and not how gorgeous those eyes were. "You're _always _of use," she whispered. "You always intervene, just at the right time. How do you do that, anyway? How do you know just when I need you most?"

He tried to ignore how his stomach swooped at the utter devotion in her earnestness, and chuckled casually. "Magnetism?"

Usagi tilted her head, a slight frown on her brow. "How do you mean?"

"I was kidding, Usako."

"Oh," she said miserably. "I should have known." She slid off her feet and sat facing him and the wall. "Mamo-chan, why is it that when I don't study, I barely get a single question right, and when Rei-chan doesn't study she gets an eighty? It's not fair."

"People have different talents," he replied lightly. "Rei isn't the most uplifting person to be around, now is she?"

"Oh, but she is!" Usagi looked up at him, her face lined with sincerity. "Or she can be. She really cares about her friends, Mamo-chan, but she's too embarrassed to say it. She really does want to be loved, and she really does love us."

He had to laugh at that; she was just too adorable. "That's just what I mean, Usako. The number of times she's made fun of you, and still you don't think twice before defending her. You have to be the most loyal person I've ever come across, and _that _is a rare gift."

A pink tinge perked up her cheeks. "That's a nice thing to say."

"It's true." He reached across the small hallway for her bag, and found the crumpled up paper. "S what do you say we go over this and prevent a relapse of these kinds of scores?"

"Eurgh, Mamo-chan," she whined. "I _hate _English!"

"I know," he grinned. "And I happen to know quite a bit about English. Come on." He took her by the wrist and hauled her to her feet.

"But you know _everything_," she said, nonplussed, following him into the kitchen where she deposited her bag on the table.

He smirked. "Convenient, but irrelevant. Today is English only. Where's your book?"

She fished the textbook out of her bag and opened it to the failed chapter; he examined the content half-heartedly while noticing her absent stare at the oven.

In an attempt to refocus her, he said, "Let's see what your mistakes were, first off."

"I don't want to fight," Usagi murmured, in a very non-focused sort of way.

He leaned over and hugged her drooping odangos to his shoulder. "One thing at a time, Usako. You can take on as many youma as you want _after _school tomorrow."

"Mamo-chan, do you even _listen?" _Suddenly she was bristling again, her entire face tense with indignation. "I – DON'T – WANT – TO – FIGHT."

He gaped back at her, at a loss for words.

Her shoulders drooped just as abruptly and her forehead crashed to the table. "You didn't mean it that way, did you?" she mumbled.

Mamoru bit back a resentful "_Of course not!" _and said quite simply, "No, I didn't."

"I'm sorry," she groaned, her nose squashed into the smooth wood. "I'm such a pain to be around. I should leave you alone."

"Usako," he said warningly.

"I always get mad at you or cry on you and you never even have anything to do with it," she sighed. "Well, mostly. You can kind of be a jerk when you want to, though."

"That's _my _talent." He automatically reached out and rubbed her back.

"But you don't even want to date me anymore!" Usagi wailed.

Mamoru groaned. "I just don't want you flunking out of junior high school! I'll help you all you want, but as for your preferred more frivolous engagements, I think those would do better on hold."

She grunted.

"Your concentration isn't at its peak, I assume?"

If she had been in her usual high spirits, she would have crowed back, "What gave you _that _impression, you baka?!" in her singular sarcastic-infuriated-jovial way. Instead, she muttered, "No."

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"No."

"Do you want to look over your test?"

"No."

"Do you want me to shut up?"

He thought he saw a grin pull at the corner of her mouth. "No."

"Then what the hell should I do?"

"Nothing."

Bewildered and resigned, he went to fish out some of his own notes from the desk in his bedroom. By the time he returned to the kitchen, she was snoring gently: one arm supporting her head, the other drooping limply onto her knee.

_Typical Usako_, he thought fondly as he attempted to organize his rather jumbled notes. _When in doubt, fall asleep. _

* * *

So what do you think? Worth continuing?


	3. Nonsense

Hello again! It's almost Saturday, but not quite, so here's Friday's installment for the daily episode/reaction.

Ep. 91

Recap: Usagi's bummed about being unable to transform, so Mamoru shows her some stray cats to cheer her up (quick thinking, Mamo-chan…?). The girl taking care of said cats is targeted by a Daimohn. The two mysterious fuku-wearing warriors return the heart but refuse to help destroy the enemy, so Tuxedo Mask jumps in but gets hurt. Usagi gets all emotional about being unable to protect her friends and miraculously the LEGENDARY SPIRAL HEART MOON ROD is born (legendary? _I _never heard of the thing before). So she whoops up on the weird puzzle-cat Daimohn and everything is peachy.

* * *

"I CAN FIGHT!" Usagi hollered, skipping down the path. Her arms flailed like windmills by her sides. "I CAN FIGHT, I CAN FIGHT!"

"You're really subtle about it, too," said Mamoru from behind her, rolling his eyes.

She wheeled around and practically jumped into his face; he flinched and retreated. "I DON'T CARE, I CAN FIGHT, I CAN FIGHT!" And she ran off ahead of him, singing and whooping.

"She sure was singing a different tune three days ago," Mamoru muttered to Luna, who was perched on his shoulder. She could change her mind so easily about things, it was almost dizzying to behold.

She nodded sagely. "Usagi-chan is too whimsical for her own good."

"Do you think so?" Mamoru tilted his head, watching her dance around in the sunset. "I dunno. She falls hard, but when she shines, it's blinding."

Primly, Luna licked one of her paws in response. "Tell Usagi-chan I went to visit Artemis," she said, before leaping off his shoulder and scampering away.

Usagi came bounding back, radiating light and energy and ecstasy. She hovered uncertainly before Mamoru, a wide grin flitting around her cheeks; the rich purples and pinks of the sunset blazed deep within her sky-colored eyes.

"You're beautiful," said Mamoru softly.

She blushed, as she always did, and darted forward to hug him. "Thank you, Mamo-chan. For allowing me to fight again."

"It was just as much you as me."

"But I couldn't have done it without you," she insisted. "That's the whole point. It's our power, combined. Our…" She glanced at the ground, embarrassed. "I love you," she whispered.

He lifted her chin with two fingers and kissed her gently. "Usako," he said thoughtfully, "why is everything that encases the silver crystal always pink and flowery?"

She stiffened. "What's wrong with pink and flowery?"

"Well, it doesn't seem exactly like a youma-destroying weapon. I always thought of _my _powers as dark and sinister, and then I look and realize I'm holding this _pink thing_. It doesn't scream 'Watch out,' anyway, if you get my drift."

"I _like _pink and flowery," she huffed. "But speaking of that, why do you think we – I mean, it was like that for you too, wasn't it? – when the rod was recreated, everything went back to the Moon Kingdom for a moment… You were Endymion again."

"Talk about a head trip," Mamoru said, rubbing his temples. "Or an acid trip, either one."

She frowned and slugged him on the arm. "_I_ thought it was beautiful."

"Maybe you're more used to being transported through time and having your clothes shift around a lot."

"Maybe I am," she said loftily, her hands absently running over his chest. "You're sure you're not hurt anymore?"

"For the thousandth time, Usako, I heal _fast_. I'm _fine_. Your oh-so-intimidating pink flowery spiral moon death rod ripped that Daimohn to shreds before it could do any real damage." He smirked.

"I don't see why you have to mock pink things," she grumbled. "I _did _kill the youma, after all."

"You did indeed. And I suppose I have no choice but to be eternally grateful, _yet again." _He bent down, seized her around the knees, and slung her over his shoulder with one quick heave; Usagi screeched and battered him with fists and feet alike.

"Mamo-chan, I'm wearing a _skirt!" _

"No one's around," he assured her, setting off once more towards her house. The park was almost too serene; the twilight roared silently with the flaring of fire, and the trees faded into black outlined shadows along the horizon. It was a warm night, dry and heavy with a faint sensation of pollen, and the vaguely sloping hills beyond the pathway were void of occupants, save for the thousands of buzzing insects and the fleets of fireflies blinking their yellow lights.

"But what are you _doing?" _She wriggled, worm-like.

"Being grateful," he said, as if this were thoroughly obvious, even to the untrained eye. He honestly had no idea why he had picked her up like that; he blamed his hormones, or that weird teleportation trick when he and Usagi had become Endymion and Serenity for a moment; he wasn't sure he could stomach that again. It wasn't that it was painful, or physically afflicting in any way; it was just... _unnatural_. What it came down to - though he didn't like to admit it - was that there were simply too many versions of himself throughout time, and it was extremely disconcerting. Being Chiba Mamoru and Tuxedo Kamen were enough for him, but all of this Prince from the past and King in the future business was too _much_.

"You don't make _sense!" _she complained, but the amusement in her voice was ill masked.

He laughed. "Everything's nonsensical today, isn't it?"

"You saved me first from the youma, though, so we're even." He supposed that was a clue for him to let go of her.

"Ah, but Usako," he sighed, "that's _logical_. It doesn't fit into the category of nonsense." But he put her down anyway, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, while hers slid easily across his back, and they continued on together.

"Who do you think they are?" Usagi asked quietly.

"Hm?"

"The soldiers who wouldn't destroy the Daimohn," she explained. "They can't be our enemies, because they're fighting _our _enemy. But they made it clear they're not our friends, either."

A blurry flash of premonition swept over him, as it sometimes did, more as a surge of emotion than anything else. "There may well be a day when we can call them allies," he mused aloud, "but for now, as their aim is so deviated from ours, it would be best not to trust them. It happened that way before, with Tuxedo Kamen and the Senshi. History enjoys throwing elements of deja-vu at us."

Her steps matching his, Usagi leaned her head against his shoulder. "I love the way you talk," she murmured. "It's like poetry."

Mamoru smiled lightly. "Nonsensical poetry, certainly."

"Which fits you," she giggled. "Thanks for showing me the kittens, too, Mamo-chan."

"You're full of thank yous today," he observed.

"I'm _happy_." She grinned up at him. "And you deserve it. I needed a distraction. I think things generally sort themselves out better when I don't try to meddle with them. So I didn't think about the crystal, and then it was fixed in the end. It all worked out."

"Maybe love and justice do prevail," said Mamoru sardonically.

She elbowed him for his sarcasm. "Maybe they _do_," she sneered. "No, we know they do. We know our end."

"Even though we spent many an hour bemoaning the knowledge of the future."

Her eyes narrowed. "So maybe I was a little slow adjusting. But we know that everything's going to work out, so why get all upset over it?"

Mamoru snorted. "Lovely theory, but I think we know it's hard to keep that cool a head in battle. Besides, we don't know how we die. We might both be brutally murdered in two thousand years and the world could dissolve into chaos. You never know."

"That's terrible!" she gasped, cringing into his side. "Don't say things like that!"

Chuckling, he said, "I was kidding."

"I know that, but I don't want to even – I mean, like you said, history repeats itself…"

"Metaria is _gone_," he interrupted her firmly. "Our kingdom won't go the same way as your mother's. I promise."

Her silence was tight for a moment, but then she said, "Anyway, it would make too much sense for the same thing to happen twice."

He sighed heavily. "I don't think nonsense-working-out applies there, Usako."

Dolefully, she hunched her shoulders. "I tried."

* * *

So that was a smidge incomprehensible, I know, but I'm kind of delirious. It was a long week. Still, if there are parts that make no sense please let me know and I'll edit them!


	4. Tenoh Haruka

Episode 92

Recap: Minako and Usagi ditch their study group to go to the arcade, where they run into Tenoh Haruka (who looks lovely and masculine). They stalk her. They become extremely jealous of Michiru. A Daimohn steals the pure heart crystal of a mechanic, and Sailors Moon and Venus try to recapture it, but not before the mysterious soldiers reveal themselves to be Sailor Senshi (Neptune and Uranus, of course!) Later, to Minako's dismay, it is revealed that Haruka is, in fact, a girl. (Usagi:"I always thought Mamo-chan was better." Yeah, sure you did, sweetie. Sure you did.)

* * *

_At the Crown_

The girls left gradually: first Ami, who said she really needed to study more, as the session at Rei's had been interrupted; then Makoto, who claimed she needed plenty of time to prepare a good dinner; then Rei, who got bored of watching Minako and Usagi race each other.

"Again!" cried Minako victoriously. "I win again! Admit defeat, admit it!"

"You really are snappier today than usual," Usagi mumbled. "I should get going."

"You're afraid to race me once more," Minako assumed, her face a beacon of supremacy.

"I'm out of money," Usagi corrected her frankly. "Ja ne, Motoki!"

Motoki waved good-naturedly from the counter, and as Usagi padded away she saw Minako slink back over to flirt with him some more. "Minako-chan," she sighed wearily. Of course she would go right back to Motoki as soon as she discovered Tenoh Haruka was off limits – or rather, was simply a girl. She giggled to herself, thinking how attractive Haruka was, boy or girl, but still feeling rather smug that she hadn't thrown herself at Haruka the way Minako had, and then made a fool of herself. Why, compared to Minako, Usagi had behaved downright sensibly; after all, when one was dating someone as wonderful as her Mamo-chan, one couldn't bat one's eyes at just any cute boy walking by. Right?

Right. She nodded her head with a surge of self-assurance and promptly smacked into the person who had just entered the Crown.

"_Ergh!" _She massaged her forehead and looked up to see who the victim of her clumsiness was, this time. "Oh, Mamo-chan," she said. "I should have guessed."

Mamoru folded his arms, his lips twitching. "I thought we were past this stage, Usako. The 'Fancy-running-into-you-here-quite-literally' stage, hm?"

Usagi blinked up at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean, Mamo-chan? I still run into people daily."

He cackled with laughter and tugged one of her pigtails affectionately; Usagi had an instinctive urge that she was missing something funny, but decided to let it go. She was used to getting that feeling from Mamoru.

"I heard something fascinating from Rei just a moment ago," said Mamoru conversationally. "Something about a certain Tenoh Haruka who seemed to have caught your eye?"

In the blink of an eye she felt herself burn bright red. "Oh – oh, no, not me! It wasn't me at all! Minako-chan thought Haruka-san was a boy, and so she dragged me along after her…"

"I _what?" _Minako stormed over from her conversation with Motoki; Usagi gulped. "You were just as eager to go as I was! I said, I want to see what this person is like, and you said you did too, and I said, Usagi, you have Mamoru, and you said – "

"Aino Minako, you stop stretching the truth! _You _said, I want to follow the _cute boy_!" Usagi stuck her tongue out for a fraction of a second. "_Cute boy_, Minako! And I said, I was interested in knowing more _about _him, but I never said anything about him – about _her_ being a cute boy!"

"That's a lie!" Minako stretched up on her toes. She was already a mite taller than Usagi, and she seemed determined to use this to her advantage in any way possible. "You thought she was a boy, too, and when I said, but you have Mamo-chan, you said, yes, but still…"

"But still, I was _curious! _That's all! I would never, never, _ever_ follow around a cute boy because I was _interested in him! I HAVE MAMORU!"_

"WHICH IS WHAT I TOLD YOU THE ENTIRE TIME, AND YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN!"

"BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHAT I – " A hand abruptly covered her mouth, and Usagi looked up through flaming eyes and a flurry of heated passion to see Mamoru fighting laughter above her.

"Calm down, Usako. I was only kidding. Can you blame Minako for being embarrassed, anyway?"

Motoki, who had hunched back behind the counter during the brawl, reemerged and took a few hesitant steps towards them. "Minako, it was an innocent mistake. I don't know this Tenoh Haruka but even I have to admit, she did have some extremely…" He swallowed. "…masculine features."

Immediately, Minako's furious red flush faded into a fawning adoration. "Did you really, Motoki? Then you don't blame me for making that mistake?" She grasped his upper arm dramatically.

Usagi made a slight retching sound, which made Mamoru snort good-humoredly; Minako shot them both a venomous look before turning back to Motoki, her loving eyes wide as saucers.

"Of course not. Although I was disappointed you left to run after him – "

"You _were?"_

"Of course, Minako-chan. I like having you around, you know that." He blushed a little, glancing up at Mamoru and Usagi. "And Usagi, too, of course."

"He's covering up," Mamoru said in a stage whisper to Usagi, who choked back a wave of giggles.

Motoki blushed even harder.

"Do you really, Motoki? Do you want to race me?"

_Minako never beats around the bush_, Usagi thought nervously.

"Ah – sure, why not?"

"I think we'd better leave the two lovebirds," Mamoru said in her ear, still not as quietly as he might have. As Usagi let him turn her away, she noticed Motoki's ears go bright pink.

* * *

_A block away from the Crown_

"Hey, Odangos!" Usagi whirled around to see Tenoh Haruka and her friend – girlfriend? – Michiru. Haruka was grinning widely, and it made Usagi a bit nauseous to see just how nice of a smile she had.

"Odangos?" Mamoru muttered down to her as the two girls approached. "Someone else is allowed to call you Odangos?"

Usagi grinned at him. "Why, Mamo-chan? Jealous? I could get them to call you Cape Boy, if it would make you feel better."

He chuckled and wound his arms around her neck. "Rei's getting to you," he said. "What happened to my innocent little Usako who never called me ridiculous names?"

"Who's this?" said Haruka cheerily, now easily in earshot. "Don't tell me little Odangos has a boyfriend?"

"Chiba Mamoru. Konnichiwa." He inclined his head.

"Tenoh Haruka, and this is Kaioh Michiru." They both nodded respectfully. "I had the pleasure of meeting Odangos and her friend today," Haruka continued, a wicked glint in her dark* eyes. "They were quite the charmers."

"Haruka was being flirtatious, as usual," said Michiru softly with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry if she was less than straightforward. She's mistaken for a man more often than not."

Usagi glanced at Haruka to see if this concerned her at all, but the tall blond girl simply smirked down at her, making her giggle. "Oh, that's alright. Minako's too interested in beautiful people for her own good." She blushed, realizing the unintentional compliment – but they _were_ beautiful, both of them.

"Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for leaving you with that monstrosity at the garage," said Haruka. "I was so concerned with getting Michiru to safety, I assumed you two were on our heels."

"We were fine. I think Sailor Moon ended up saving your mechanic friend, anyway, thank goodness."

Mamoru coughed delicately. "She certainly is brave, isn't she, Usako?"

"Oh, yes," said Usagi just as primly. "Oh, yes, indeed."

Haruka scanned both of their faces, a strange tension in her gaze. "Good," she said after a pause. "Of course, good. I'm glad to hear he's alright."

"Excuse us," Michiru said, bowing, "but we have an engagement. A pleasure to meet you both."

"Oh, that's right. Ja ne, Odangos, Odangos' boyfriend." They turned and sauntered off, the epitome of grace and elegance.

Usagi bit her lip, grinning. "Aren't they funny?" she said to Mamoru. "Michiru so formal, and Haruka so relaxed?"

"Polar opposites," Mamoru agreed drily. "I see what you mean, Usako. I could fall for Tenoh Haruka just as easily."

"Mamo-chan!" she cried, whirling around and slamming her fists into his chests. "Don't make _fun _of me!"

He turned and walked away, laughing. "Tomorrow's Saturday, right, Usako?"

"Yes," she said suspiciously to his retreating back.

"I'll pick you up at two," he called over his shoulder.

_Damn him_, Usagi thought cheerfully. _No matter how many times he teases me_…

Glowing, she skipped off home.

* * *

*Now, for reasons unknown to me, I was very concerned about the coloring of Haruka's eyes. In a lot of pictures I found, they were clearly blue, but in the anime they were so dark they could have either been brown or a navy color like her fuku. The latter makes more sense, but I was always under the impression she had brown eyes. Anyone want to clarify this for me? IT'S SO IMPORTANT! (Heh... heheh...)

This was quite enjoyable to write. I'm looking forward to much more of Haruka and Michiru as this arc progresses. Gotta love 'em. (:

Thanks for reading!


	5. An Angry Bunch of Grapes

Episode 93

Recap: Usagi tries to become a bit more mature for Mamoru. It doesn't work. Obviously. Michiru gives her violin concert tickets, and at the concert, a youma pops out of the violin (possibly the most ridiculously hilarious Daimohn I have ever seen. I've decided Mamoru agrees with me). Uranus and Neptune reappear, and Jupiter's all like "Oh girl, _what? _You think you can just invade and we can't ask you who the heck you are?" But then everything ends up good and Mamoru gets coerced into taking all the girls out to dinner. Poor guy.

* * *

Mamoru was having trouble controlling himself. Every time he thought of that violin youma he exploded in a series of snorts.

"Why do we fight such ridiculous monsters?" he muttered, too low for anyone but Usagi to hear.

"You think it's funny?" she said, her brow arched high.

"Well – yeah." He chortled again and scratched his head. "I mean, the thing was completely absurd. It wouldn't stop singing…" And the memory only made him laugh harder.

A grin broke out on Usagi's face. "Well, maybe it was a little stranger than what we've dealt with before," she admitted. "But Mamo-chan, you can hardly talk about ridiculous. Those speeches of yours…"

"What about them?" he said, immediately stiff and poised for battle.

Usagi's grin widened. "Lecturing youma on serenades and moonlight… do you really think it's going to sink in? Or are you just humoring your romantic side?"

"I don't have a romantic side," he replied rigidly. "I'm a cold-hearted bastard."

"…he says while wearing an all-white tuxedo," Usagi muttered.

"What's that have to do with it?"

"Only very romantic men wear all-white tuxedos," she explained, as if this were the most well-known societal standard of all. "And anyway, most superheroes don't wear tuxedos, even if they _are_ black. Most of them wear very tight underwear."

"I think I'm ahead of the bell curve on that one," Mamoru smirked. "Would you honestly rather have me wear ridiculous spandex?"

"Everything's ridiculous to you," she muttered. "What made you so high and mighty?"

"You give speeches too!" he objected. "And at least I come up with a new one every time; yours is always the same, 'I can't forgive you, in the name of the moon, I will punish you,' and so on and so forth. Can I at least get points for originality?"

"The youma can," Usagi said seriously, "seeing how they look so... interesting... but you, I don't know."

And then the image of the violin screeching operatically to the world came rushing back to them, and they fell against each other, roaring with laughter.

Rei whirled around, her hands on her hips. "What is _wrong _with you two?" she said snippily. "I thought tonight was about being _sophisticated?"_

And usually he was, but Usagi brought out the dregs of immaturity that lurked beneath his usual cold politeness – and damn it if he didn't love her for it. "We gave up on that," Mamoru said, still chuckling.

"Sophisticated is no fun, Rei-chan," Usagi grinned. "And besides, that youma _was _pretty funny, wasn't it?"

The other girls had stopped walking, and Ami crept back behind Rei. "It wouldn't have been funny if it had gotten us," she said seriously. "You shouldn't joke about battles."

"Yes, ma'am," said Mamoru, saluting. But then he caught Usagi's eye and they both lost it again.

Makoto joined in, giggling good-naturedly. "Don't be so uptight, Ami-chan," she said, slinging her arm around the other girl's shoulders. "It _would _be hilarious on a gravestone – 'Kino Makoto, killed by a singing violin'."

Usagi, at this point, seemed to be in pain; she clung to Mamoru's arm with tears streaming down her face. "Mako… chan," she gasped through heaves of mirth. And once again, their gazes locked, and he couldn't help but relapse. Her eyes were watery and shining and her mouth crookedly gasping for air, kind of like a fish out of water. She looked positively insane.

Minako skipped up to them, a wide smile on her face. "You know what would be better?" she asked excitedly. "'Kino Makoto, killed by an angry bunch of grapes'."

Everyone stared at her in a confused silence. Minako continued to gaze around at them, grinning.

"Minako-chan," said Ami hesitantly, "we've never _fought _an angry bunch of grapes."

"Oh." Her face fell. "Is that what we were talking about?"

Her lips pursed, Rei shook her long mane of hair and took Ami by the elbow, dragging her forward on the sidewalk. "Some people," she grumbled.

"Calm down, Rei-chan," Makoto said, following after. "None of us are hurt, are we? Usagi even saved little Miss Too-Good-for-You Neptune. Maybe they'll think twice about brushing us off next time, huh?" Though the rest of them were intrigued and perhaps a little perturbed by the aloofness of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, Makoto was the only one who really seemed insulted by their refusal to work alongside the other Senshi.

"Good thing she doesn't hold a grudge," Mamoru whispered to Usagi.

"Mamo-chan," she declared in reply, "if you don't stop, I think I'm going to die."

"Laughter is healthy," he said pleasantly. "You'll live to be a million and three, all wrinkly and disgusting."

"Ooh." Usagi snickered. "I can't even imagine myself like that."

"I can," said Mamoru sagely. "A hale old thing, you'll be. You'll hobble around croaking how in the name of the moon you'll punish all of those noisy youngsters who keep you up at night."

"Stop, Mamo-chan," she hissed, punching his arm – but her cheeks were bright pink with amusement, and she seemed to be having the time of her life.

"See, Usako," he said in a low voice, "you're perfect when you don't try to be someone else." He hoped that would end the case of the burnt-cookies-and-feeling-inferior once and for all.

She leaned her head closer to his arm in response, and they relished in a moment of silence to relieve their aching ribs.

"Yo! Odango atama!"

It was nothing short of priceless, how her odangos seemed to perk up at the sound of her nickname, just like a dog's ears; instinctively, she looked up at Mamoru, but he winked at her and jerked his head back. They turned to see Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru sauntering towards them.

"Some concert, huh?" said Haruka as they approached.

"I never intended to invite you to an event that might threaten your lives," Michiru said apologetically, though a playful smile lurked at the corners of her lips. "I trust you all were alright?"

"Of course," Usagi replied happily. "Thanks to Sailor Moon."

Mamoru choked. "And Tuxedo Kamen," he added. "They make a good team."

"Absolutely," said Usagi, her face completely serious. "They complement each other."

"Though I often wonder, why is it that Sailor Moon always forgets to attack until Tuxedo Kamen reminds her? You'd think she'd just get it over with as soon as the youma comes up."

"Mamo-chan," said Usagi with an air of great superiority, "please don't demonstrate your ignorance. The other Sailor Senshi must _weaken _the youma before she can deal with it. You wouldn't know, but don't poke your nose into things you don't understand."

He couldn't take it. He just couldn't look at her. It was too damn much. He stared at Tenoh Haruka instead, though the trembling of his jaw made it rather hard to focus on her. She, in turn, watched him skeptically.

Usagi broke first. She howled to the moon (so perhaps her odangos were a wolf's ears instead), then buried her face in his jacket to muffle her convulsions. Mamoru squeezed his eyes shut, a grin flitting in and out of his control. He managed, in the end, to cough back most of his laughter.

Haruka was gazing at him curiously when he opened his eyes; Michiru's face was passively entertained; and Usagi was still making noises of death into his side.

"So," said Haruka, "you ended up having a good time?"

"Hey!" Rei's harsh tones were unmistakable, though distant. "What's taking you two so long?"

Mamoru cleared his throat. "We were just going to get some Chinese," he announced. "Would you like to join us?"

Haruka glanced sideways at Michiru, who beamed quietly. "That would be lovely," she replied.

Mamoru frowned thoughtfully at her for a second longer than he should have; she reminded him of how he used to be, and yet she was so very different – so formal and yet still so warm. He wondered how she managed it, but then he realized there might be something about Haruka that loosened her up a little. That made sense. Some people just had that effect on the more reserved types.

"We'd better catch up, then," he said, "or I think Rei-san will order my head on a plate instead of fried rice."

Usagi punched him straight in the gut this time. "You – _are – _trying – to – kill me!" she gasped.

"Say, odango atama – you're not drunk, are you?" Haruka and Michiru moved ahead of them evenly, occupying the space between them and the other girls.

And at that, of course, Usagi just laughed, which didn't help her case much, or so Mamoru thought. "Of course not," he answered delicately in her stead. "She's underage."

"You might have secretly spiked something I drank, though," Usagi whispered to him as Haruka and Michiru walked further away. "Like you did at that ball a year ago."

"That was _completely _you," Mamoru insisted. "You knew _exactly _what you were drinking."

"Yes, but you took advantage of me, didn't you? And you didn't even know who I was!"

"I didn't take _advantage _of you, Lord!"

"Kissing a drunk girl you don't know? That's not taking advantage of her?"

"I knew it," Haruka called over her shoulder. "Odangos isn't as innocent as she seems, is she, Mamoru-san?"

Usagi blushed furiously. "Now what will they think of me?" she groaned to him.

"They'll think you're absolutely crazy," said Mamoru. "And if they don't love you for it, I can't say I approve of them much."

* * *

This episode proved that Haruka's eyes are indeed navy blue. Thank God _that _was resolved. And if Mamoru seemed a little OOC, well, I think he's too uptight, too often. And plus OC-TAAAAA-VE was _the _funniest youma I have ever seen. If you haven't seen this episode in a while, please just watch 20 seconds of the battle. I died. Twice.

So as for OOC-ness, I guess I'm saying "Too bad," which isn't very polite of me (I need lessons from Michiru). I therefore give you permission to complain your heads off if you object. And if anything else here was bad/inaccurate.

Thanks for reading!


	6. Repeating History

Episode 94

Recap: Unazuki, Motoki's little sister, has a beautiful dream of a first kiss. Yeah, yeah. Cute. So the Daimohn (an elephant vacuum cleaner, in case you were wondering) targets her and runs away with the pure heart, tailed by Uranus and Neptune. The Inner Senshi find Unazuki on the floor and go after her heart, but they split up and only Usagi (who gets a lift from Mamoru's motorcycle) ends up battling the youma (typical). After she kills it, she and Tuxedo Kamen have to fight Uranus and Neptune for the crystal, but luckily it's not a talisman. And then to top it all off, Mamoru evades Usagi's inquiry about a certain topic we discussed previously (oops!)… so starting rather abruptly at the very end of the episode…

* * *

He stared her down and saw a blush rising on her cheeks. As he leaned in, she stuttered out,

"H-hey, Mamo-chan?"

He raised his eyebrows in reply.

"Do you remember our first kiss?"

He straightened up and stared at the balcony railing. So much for _that _kiss. "Um… that's…"

"Mamo-chan?" she prodded him. "You don't remember?"

"I was just saying… well, that's not worth talking about." He watched a car pull out onto the road beneath them, furtively ignoring Usagi's probing eyes.

"No!" cried Usagi, aghast, grabbing his elbow. "A first kiss is really important."

"The moon is really beautiful tonight, Usako," he muttered feebly.

"Mamo-chan!"

"I'm sorry!" he said tersely. "It's just… it wasn't exactly ideal, was it?"

"_I _thought it was romantic," Usagi pouted.

"Usako, you were drunk!"

"Which is why I thought it was romantic!" she shot back.

He snorted. "You don't realize how that sounds, do you?"

"Why? How does it sound?"

"Never mind." He leaned over the railing with a sigh. "I just don't think it counts."

"Why _not?" _she screeched.

"BECAUSE YOU WERE DRUNK!"

"We can hear you, you know!" Minako's voice called from inside.

Mamoru groaned and set his face in his palm; Usagi blushed furiously. "You had to yell?"

"Sorry," he said for the second time that minute.

There was a short silence.

"I can't even remember our first _real _kiss, then," Usagi said. "When we knew who we were. Or when I knew who you were and you knew – well… you know."

"Maybe the day Chibiusa showed up?" Mamoru suggested half-heartedly.

"That recently?" Usagi sighed, brooding. "I miss her, Mamo-chan."

"Me too." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It was weird while she was here, and now it's weirder for her to be gone." There was something distinctly unnerving about seeing your five- ... well, technically nine hundred... year-old daughter look up at you with big crimson eyes and tell you things about the future, but he couldn't help missing her charming carefree attitude and her unusual wisdom - her playful whims and her solemn comprehension of all things sinister and threatening.

Usagi chuckled to herself. "I wonder if…" She eyed Mamoru with a look he thought was rather suspicious. "Mamo-chan, you always say history repeats itself, don't you?"

"I might have said it once within the past two weeks, if that's what you mean," he laughed.

"So do you think Chibiusa would come back if… if we repeated history?" She was blushing, but there was much more cheekiness than embarrassment in her expression.

"I see." Mamoru massaged his cheek with one hand. "It's worth a shot, hm?"

Hopefully, Usagi leaned up on her toes, but instead of meeting her halfway, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up onto his back.

"Hey! Mamo-chan, what are you…?"

With a quick jump, he vaulted onto the balcony railing, and measured the two-story fall to the ground. Nothing Tuxedo Kamen couldn't handle. Holding Usagi's arms tight around his neck, he dropped swiftly and silently to the ground, his knees bending just as he touched the pavement. He could feel Usagi's breath hot and fast on his neck, and was relieved she had the common sense not to scream; the other girls had ears like jackals. If jackals even had good ears.

His bike was waiting for them; as soon as he released Usagi's arms, she slipped off his back and jammed the extra helmet on her head. "Where are we going?" she asked, a giggle of excitement in her voice.

"Repeating history." He slid on his own helmet and jumped onto the motorcycle, gunning it to life; it roared quietly and, as soon as Usagi's hands were safely fastened around his waist, they sped off. He might have only imagined Minako yelling, "Hey! Where'd they go?" But he was rather sure he didn't, because Usagi's soft laugh tickled his ear.

The main roads were thick with rush hour traffic, but he dodged impatiently through the jumble of cars and pulled off onto a maze of residential streets that led to a slender dirt path.

"The lake!" Usagi cried when he yanked the key out of the ignition. "But Mamo-chan…"

"Shh." He placed a finger over her lips. "Tuxedo Kamen knows all." He dug into his pocket. "He also happens to have the key to the boathouse."

"How in the world did you get _that?" _Usagi demanded, slipping off the bike.

"A while back I saved the man who owns it from some gang of idiots. He thanked me and left and then I realized he dropped his key, but I figured it was kind of a nice recompense."

"That's terrible, Mamo-chan!" she cried, but he only laughed and shoved the key in her face.

"See for yourself."

She squinted through the dim light of the streetlamps. "Boathouse copy 2," she read. "Oh. I guess as long as he's got another…" Then she giggled. "Good thing he labels things so neatly."

"Exactly what I always thought. Shall we?" He twisted his fingers around hers, the key secured between their hands, and they set off down the slope to the small shack on the lake.

Ten minutes later, he was rowing them out to the center of the water; the moon splayed white and vibrant, dancing in little rippling gusts, across the black glass that was studded with stars.

"It feels spooky," Usagi whispered, breaking him out of the rhythmic trance of his rowing. "Not in a scary way, but just… like it's all happened before. Like one of _those _memories."

"I know what you mean," he said. He had that strange aching of déjà-vu at the back of his mind, in that place chock-full of memories that had only been opened a crack. "But there aren't any lakes on the moon, are there? Were there?"

"I don't know," said Usagi in a strangely strained voice. Her head was bowed, her pale hair bleached silver in the moonlight, and the faintest gleam of her eyes protruded from beneath her long lashes. "It's coming… I don't know if I want to remember…"

He pulled the oars out of the water and balanced them across the boat. Tense, uncertain, he waited for a signal from her.

"Oh God," she gasped suddenly, her hands flying to her mouth, a stream of tears spilling over her cheeks. "Oh, God, it was the night before… before it happened, I came down here and we went out on the lake… just like this, oh God… and you even had premonitions back then, and you told me, and I didn't want to believe you, but you were right and the next night everything was…" She barely choked out the last word. "Gone."

He strained his mind to the point where his brain might have exploded out of his ears, but he couldn't remember a thing. "Usako…" he murmured, at a loss for words. Comforting people was her strength, not his.

"Sorry," she muttered through tear-soaked palms. "Sorry, it's stupid, it just caught me off guard…" She inhaled heavily. "It happened," she told herself firmly, "and that's over."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, reaching across the oars and squeezing her wrist.

"I know," she replied. "But it's silly to get all… caught up on that now. I mean, I was having fun." She shot him a watery grin. "Distract me?"

"Erm…" His thoughts flailed for a moment, trying desperately to unearth some way to make her laugh; it didn't come easily to him on command. "Well, when I was fighting Neptune for that damn crystal, she… it's sort of disturbing actually… she kept snarling under her breath, and it wasn't like an I'm-going-to-kick-your-ass kind of snarl, I think she just had a bunch of phlegm in her throat and she was trying to clear it out."

"Mamo-chan!" Well, appalled was a step up from crying.

"Seriously! She must have allergies or something, because it was kind of disgusting."

"Well, now that you mention it, Uranus smelled like cheap men's cologne. _Men's_ cologne. Definitely not the type I'd want to be headlocked against, but…" She sighed dramatically. "The others _would _come too late."

"And how do you know how to differentiate between men's colognes, Tsukino-san?" he demanded.

She laughed loudly, sarcastically. "Do you think I go out to strip joints every Friday night and analyze them? Yeah, I bring Ami-chan and she gathers up the data and measures the collations between smell and price."

"I think you mean 'correlations,' Usako."

"Oh, whatever."

The boat cracked gently against the dock, and Usagi started. "Oh, you turned back. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you…"

"Forget it," he insisted, interrupting her. "I think we've had enough reminiscing for one day, anyways."

She bit her lower lip and smiled at him gratefully; he shot her a wink before leaping nimbly from boat to dock. Turning, he extended his hand to her, and she grasped it hard, wobbling as she stood in the boat. A conniving spark went off in his brain, and rather rudely, he yanked her straight off the boat, making her stumble and screech before topping into his chest.

"Now what did I say about history repeating itself?" he whispered into her ear, in what he hoped was a mildly seductive manner. He never really could tell, though; he usually just sort of tossed it out there and hoped it worked.

"That's not fair!" she said, attempting to wring her hand from his, but his grip was iron-firm. "You did that on purpose."

"Guess you'll have to deal with the repercussions," he replied wickedly. His free hand slipped behind her neck as he leaned down and kissed her gently; he basked in the warmth that jolted through him like electrified sunlight when her delicate lips massaged his just as softly, with the sweetest little nibble at his lower lip.

He made a show of looking up and searching about the stars. "No Chibiusa," he declared at length.

"Let's go home," she said quietly, reaching out to hold his arm. He nodded and chucked the key into the bottom of the boat, assuming the first person to find it in the morning would be its owner; and on a second thought, he launched a rose in after it, as a signature of sorts.

Usagi was silent as they returned to the motorcycle, but as she reached for her helmet she caught his eye, and he staggered under the weight of her impassioned gaze. It made his heart ache at her optimistic naïveté when she murmured, more to herself than to him, "I really didn't expect her. I really didn't."

* * *

So I'm thinking I need a title for this whole story that applies to more than the first chapter... any suggestions?

As always, any and all comments are welcome. (: Thanks for reading!


	7. Psychic Intervention

Episode 95

Recap: Ergh… well, I didn't have time to watch this entire episode. It's the one where Umino and Naru enter in that lover's contest and end up winning. How cute. And then Kaorinite and a weird ol' Daimohn with a huge heart on her chest make an appearance. That's about it.

Also because I'm pressed for time, this will be a short one. Ooh, midterms, how I loathe the thought of you! I doubt I'll be able to keep up my chapter-a-day commitment within the next week and a half, but I'll try my best. :(

* * *

"Too bad I missed the brawl." Mamoru really was disappointed. There was nothing like a good fight to stretch out his back after a day of studying.

"There was a woman there with the youma." Usagi frowned and poked his sheet of notes with her finger rather pointedly. "With red hair. Pale face. Thin lips. Laughed without smiling."

"They _always _laugh without smiling," said Mamoru.

"Who?"

"The villains," he said quite matter-of-factly, reaching his hands up to the ceiling with a yawn. "Lord, I'm bored."

"I could make you cookies again," said Usagi with a distinctive twinkle in her eye.

"As tempting as that is, Odangos - " He stopped abruptly. A sharp image swam into focus in his mind's eye, of a woman with red hair, a pale face, and thin lips, who laughed without smiling. Mamoru didn't know much about fashion, but he certainly had enough common sense to realize that her hair color looked positively absurd next to the equally vibrant red of her dress. But that was just him, anyway. "Her name's Kaorinite," he said.

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, and he blinked abruptly; the image vanished. "Your eyes were all foggy," she said, watching him curiously.

"Yeah, I saw her. The red-haired woman. She's connected to the youma, of course, but… not _directly_… ah, dammit, I dunno. It's gone now." He shoved a hand through his hair. "I wish I knew how to get some real information out of those things." His premonitions had been coming at a slightly accelerated rate, now that the new enemy was out there sending youma after pure hearts, and it frustrated him that though he'd been seeing visions for as long as he could remember, he still had very little control over them.

"Uranus and Neptune were very nice today," said Usagi thoughtfully. "Very _civil_. A big turnaround from the other day, I should think. Attacking _me!" _She tossed her pigtails, scorning the very concept. "Although Uranus still smelled like men. _Sweaty _men."

"She _was _fighting a battle."

"So she should smell like sweaty _women_."

She had him there.

"So what was the youma like, anyway?" He fiddled absently with the rip on the underside of the couch.

A furious blush overcame her, and she stared down at her feet. Immediately, he zoned in, sensing a delicious catch. "_What? _Usako, what happened?"

"You're like a teenage girl when it comes to gossip," she muttered to the carpet.

"I'm going to find out eventually. You _know _Minako will tell me anything."

She glowered up at him. "That has nothing to do with _you – _Minako tells _everyone _everything."

"I never implied it had to do with me. Out with it, Usako!"

"It's too embarrassing!" she cried, faceplanting into the floor; her pigtails flopped straight over her head.

"Was it a male?" said Mamoru immediately. "I've never seen a male youma from this enemy before."

"Not – exactly," Usagi said in a strained voice.

"Did it seduce you?" he smirked, though inwardly he glugged with jealousy at the very thought.

"Wha – well… well no, but, I mean…" She peeked a wide white eye out. "It looked like _you_," she whispered.

"Usako!" he groaned. "As reassuring as that is to my ego, you have to be more _careful_, dammit!"

"Well it's not like I was just _stupid!" _she shot back, reeling back onto her knees. "It was weird, it was like I tried to think that this was a trap, but as soon as I got close to it, I couldn't actually make it all the way, like there was a wall in my head. Which was the enemy, of _course_. And it worked with all the other girls, too! There were boys for them, and none of them thought twice about it!"

He grunted. "Next time, don't wait long enough to let it attack, then."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Wonderful advice, thank you for your time and efforts."

"Hey, that actually sounded facetious. Maybe I'm rubbing off on you."

"What makes you think I need _you _to rub off on me, Mamoru-baka? I can think of these things on my own, thank you!" She stood and plopped into the vacant armchair. "I'm bored, too," she admitted after a moment. Then she grinned. "I _did _offer to make you cookies…"

"And before I was so rudely interrupted by psychic intervention, I was going to tell you that as tempting as that is, I think my kitchen wouldn't survive the encounter."

Lucky for him, his house _did _survive her chasing him around, screaming to high heaven that she was _not _that bad of a cook and knocking things over. Barely.

* * *

Oh those two. Just can't keep them from bickering. :)

In case the general public was curious, I would like to inform the world at large that today I wore my hair in semi-failish odangos to school. Tomorrow I plan to wear them in much-less-failish odangos. I know, I know, it's enthralling.

Thanks for reading! :) (Title suggestions still very much desired! I'm terrible at titling things!)


	8. Sexual Tension

Episode 96

Recap: Haruka nearly runs over Usagi and Makoto, and Mako goes all starry-eyed at Haruka just like Minako did (sheesh). Michiru and Haruka find out Makoto is the next pure heart target, so they "borrow" her to keep an eye on her. When she's attacked, they get the Inner Senshi out of the Daimohn's clutches, but Makoto overheard that Uranus and Neptune are just trying to find the talismans like the Daimohn, and tries to fight Uranus. She gets punched in the gut instead. Luv ya, Uranus (said in my best valley girl voice).

Sorry these are short-ish. Blame my US History class. There were too many stupid tariff arguments and stupid presidents and stupid Gilded Ages. Well maybe just one of those.

* * *

"_I _think they were overreacting," said Usagi stoutly. "Minako can't talk at least, since _she _thought Haruka was a boy. Which is a little different from being attracted to her, even knowing she's a girl, but the point is, Haruka-san's attractive. There's no doubt about it."

"Mm," said Mamoru, his eyes intently scrolling over physics notes.

"But Mako-chan wasn't attracted _that way_ to her, really. Any normal person would look at Haruka and think she's beautiful."

"Including you," Mamoru added, his eyes darting back and forth as he copied a problem from his book.

"I have good taste." She hoisted her nose in the air quite primly. "And it's not _that way_, like I said. Rei-chan shouldn't have been so judgmental."

"When is Rei _not _judgmental?"

Usagi growled. "Yeah, you're right. She ought to back off my grades. The last time they were her business, the world was… I mean… they were _never _her business. So there." She chewed on her thumbnail for a moment. "And it's not like there's something wrong with it, if Mako-chan _was _attracted to her _that way_. She could still like boys fine, and like Haruka-san too. Haruka-san's just as good as a boy in most ways. Did you know she drives, and she's only in the tenth grade, Mako says. She might even be illegal. Michiru's so sweet, she would never say anything to anyone. I should be more like her, but I would be too afraid if you had an illegal license. Not that I think Michiru is Haruka's girlfriend, or anything, but they do seem like that, don't they? They're always around each other, and not just like playful friends way – they can be so quiet around each other. I think that's more of a deeper relationship thing."

"Do you now," Mamoru muttered through his teeth.

"Mmhm… oh. You were being sarcastic, weren't you? Well, Mamoru-baka, maybe I just won't talk at all then." She crossed her arms and huffed deeper into her chair.

"Don't you have homework?" he asked her accusatorily.

She shrugged. "Yes." Idly, she traced patterns over the arm of the chair with her fingertip.

After a few moments of tense silence, Mamoru groaned and rubbed his temples. "Dammit Usako, just talk, alright?"

"But I'm distracting you." She sounded quite sour.

"I like the background noise," he admitted. "But don't expect me to be listening."

She hoisted her legs up over the arm of the chair; he could feel her watching him thoughtfully. "I know the kind of admiration Mako-chan has for Haruka-san, I think. The kind when you meet someone you admire so much you can't help feeling silly in front of them, and wanting to impress them, and you can't help thinking about them constantly…"

"Just like me," Mamoru interrupted with a smirk.

"What?"

"Just like how you used to feel about me," he repeated, glancing up at her, his eyes dancing. "You admired me so much you couldn't help bumping into me."

"Oh, you baka, you've got it all mixed up," she grumbled. "I didn't admire a thing about you, you were so stuck up and rude. I didn't obsess about you in the slightest."

"Really now."

"Really. One hundred percent really."

Their eyes met and they stared each other down momentarily.

Usagi said tetchily, "Respecting someone of your same gender is much different from constantly running into and fighting with someone of the opposite gender. I don't know how you can compare them."

"Tension," Mamoru replied casually, noticing that his pencil had started to write her words instead of numbers. That was what he got for multitasking.

She frowned at him for long enough that he knew he'd have to be explicit. "_Sexual _tension," he repeated, as if talking to a five-year-old.

"Oh, Mamo-chan, don't group Mako-chan in with – "

"I'm not grouping her anywhere. It's true. Makoto is attracted to Haruka. What's grouping about that?"

"Never mind," Usagi groaned. "You just don't get it."

"I think you're the one grouping people, Usako. There's no even division between heterosexual and homosexual and bisexual. It's all muddled up."

"Yeah," Usagi giggled. "That magazine Rei had…"

Mamoru bit his lip with a twisted smile. "I probably don't want to know about that… but the point is, she might just find herself attracted to women like Haruka more than the average girl, and that doesn't make her any less straight."

"But that's what _I _was saying," Usagi complained.

"Imagine that. We might actually agree on something."

"Weird," Usagi agreed. "I might have to run into you again to solve that." She looked up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, I've got to run, Mamo-chan. Ja ne." She stood and darted over to him, gave him a quick peck on the lips, and flurried out, her school bag smacking against her back. Just as she reached the door, she hollered back, "And your reading glasses are adorable!"

He really marveled at how, fifteen minutes after she'd gone, he was still smiling.

* * *

Things to note:

1. I screwed up the storyline a little by having Haruka and Michiru accompany Mamoru & girls to dinner a few chapters ago, which I found out this episode. Haruka and Makoto don't really know each other, or don't as well as they would had they spent an evening together. Whoops.

2. I kind of like the thought of Haruka and Makoto banding up as the tomboys of the Senshi. I never thought about it before rewatching this episode, but they're quite similar in many ways. That's sort of cool.

3. Reviews keep me healthy and happy and alive. Thanks for reading!! (:

(4. I still need a title suggestion for this story! I - can't - come - up - with - titles. Seriously. I've gone through like 472 for my novel and still haven't found one that works well. *pulls out hair*)


	9. Dissipate: To Scatter, Disperse

Episode 97

Recap: Ami is confused about whether she really wants to study as much as people assume she does, and feels cornered into her schoolwork. She races Michiru to blow off steam and discovers that you have to give something your all to make it work; if you worry or give up, it won't work out (I don't see how that really solves her problem, but maybe I'm just dense). Then she gets attacked by a Daimohn in a swimsuit and floaty tube, but Sailor Moon saves her.

I changed the last few lines of the episode a little. Don't sue me.

* * *

Mizuno Ami wasn't the flirtatious type, exactly, and she was far from immature, so it distressed Mamoru all the more when she started dancing around him. "I won't lose," she taunted.

_Well, great, kid, I'm happy you feel better about your goals, but do you have to apply your determination here?_ His shoulders sagged.

Usagi, meanwhile, was screaming, "No, no, no! Tuxedo Kamen-sama is _my _Tuxedo Kamen-sama! No, no, no!"

"Sailor Moon," he said drearily, "this is one of those moments when we ask ourselves how old we are." He knew she knew that Ami was kidding, and Ami knew she knew, and Usagi knew they knew she knew, but they still kept at it. It was rather tiresome.

She stomped on his foot. "Hush. This doesn't concern you."

His own love life didn't concern him. Wonderful.

"Why do you always call me Tuxedo Kamen-_sama_?" he pressed on, in a meager attempt to disengage her from her current occupation of trying to shove Ami into the pool, but the other girl dodged away quickly.

She just laughed at that. "I don't think Tuxedo Kamen-chan would sound quite as intimidating, do you?"

"Says the one who destroys youma with pink flowery sparkles."

"_Intimidating_ pink flowery sparkles."

"_Intimidating _Tuxedo Kamen-chan." He winked at her. "I'm kidding. If you actually called me that I just might vomit."

"Aww!" Usagi pouted. "But Kamen-chan is really cute, kind of! Better than Cape Boy, at least, right?"

"_Anything's _better than – hey, where did Ami go?"

Right on cue, Ami popped her head in from the locker rooms, now semi-dry and fully clothed. He wondered how in the world she managed that so fast. "Usagi, we should really get back to the study group. They'll have _so _many questions by now." She smiled.

"You _like _being bombarded, don't you?" Usagi narrowed her eyes.

Ami chuckled light-heartedly. "Anyone likes being needed."

Mamoru watched Usagi scrutinize the validity of that statement; she scrunched up her face and stared at the floor for a good five seconds. "I suppose that's right," she said slowly, "but only under the right circumstances."

Ami shrugged as if to say "Naturally," and jerked her head to the door. "Shall we?"

"I'll go with you," said Mamoru cheerfully. "Don't want any more youma popping up along the way."

"I could take them," Usagi said with certainty, balling up her fists.

"You could get caught in a floating device, that's for sure." He dodged as she aimed a punch at his ribs.

"That's not _fair_, Mamo- erm, I mean… no one's around, are they?" They had reached the deserted lobby of the sports center; Ami and Mamoru quickly double checked the glass doors ahead and the hallway behind.

"I can't see anyone," said Ami.

"Then that's not fair, _Mamo-chan_, it was fast and I didn't see it coming!" With a decisive nod, she de-transformed into her civilian clothing.

With a swish of his cape, he followed her lead and downgraded to his usual sage green jacket and jeans. "Then you ought to be more aware if you're going to make any progress as a senshi whatsoever," he quipped back.

Usagi crossed her arms and huffed in response.

"Mamoru-kun," Ami said thoughtfully, holding the door open for her friends, "I mean this with all due respect, and you certainly deserve more respect than the average citizen, but that is by far one of the uglier jackets I have ever seen."

Usagi howled derisively. "See, Mamo-chan, it's not just me! Do you see?"

He clasped a hand to his chest as if mortally wounded. "For your information, this jacket has been through more than you can imagine."

"Like what? Getting cast aside while you transform? I'm sure that was traumatic." Usagi sniggered and glanced around before noticing no one else was sharing her joke.

"Emotional support," Mamoru corrected her. "I've had it since I left the orphanage."

There was an awkward silence.

"Oh," said Usagi at length. "I'm sorry, Mamo-chan…"

"Don't worry about it," he said lightly. "The jacket deserves some respect, too, is all."

Ami doubled back to pinch the right sleeve between her fingers. "You may be an unfortunate shade of green," she said seriously, "but I don't judge books by their cover."

"Or brooks by their color," Usagi said, giggling, "as Minako says by mistake."

"Thank you," said Mamoru solemnly. "The jacket is well pleased."

Usagi and Ami laughed.

"Do you know something," Ami said, mid-chuckle, "I'd been wondering about Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru – what they were, exactly, to each other. Haruka-san drove by me to ask me to re-race Michiru-san…"

"_Re-race _Michiru-san?" Usagi repeated. "So you left our study group to race Michiru-san?"

"No," said Ami uncomfortably, "I left because I was upset. But Haruka-san definitely said, erm, she said, 'My partner wants a rematch.' So they are dating, after all."

"I knew it!" Usagi cried triumphantly, skipping ahead. "What did I tell you, Mamo-chan?"

"You told me they were quiet around each other," he said doubtfully. "That's about it."

"Oh, you baka, you're no help. I _did _say it. I _did_."

Mamoru turned to Ami. "Apparently, she did."

Ami shook her head, amused. "Do you two ever stop? We thought once you'd started dating the arguments might… dissipate."

Mamoru said, "We only stop when I make her."

Usagi shifted around uncomfortably. "What's dissipate? And you never _make _me stop, how could you _make _me – "

He seized her shoulders and kissed her mouth roughly. Squirming, she pulled away, her hands shoved against his chest. "Mamoru-baka, do you even think about poor Ami-chan?"

"As much as I hate to say it, you deserved that one just a little, Usagi-chan." Ami smiled wryly. "And 'dissipate' means 'to scatter or disperse'."

"Oh, well we've done that," said Usagi, clearly put at ease. "Our arguments have dispersed, because we see each other more often, so they're more scattered, instead of clumped when we run into each other."

"One could just as easily argue that they were more scattered when our encounters were impromptu and generally chaotic," Mamoru countered.

"Well one wouldn't argue that."

"Why not?"

"Because 'one' is a baka-faced cape boy, _Tuxedo Kamen-chan_."

He felt a bit guilty for leaving Ami-chan in the dust, but she needed to be chased. Right. Now.

* * *

I stayed up late to finish this. Feel well-appreciated, readers, for you are important enough to me to sacrifice half an hour of sleep. (: Thanks so much for your reviews! I really appreciate that some people share my enjoyment of quirky bickering. :D

An observation: Last episode (forgot to mention it then) Makoto just magically knew that the Daimohns were called Daimohns. And now Luna and Artemis and presumably everyone else calls them that too. How did they discover that, or did I miss something? Just a thought.


	10. French Toast

Episode 98

Recap: Usagi gets left behind at a motocross event and Haruka offers her a ride. Neptune is tracked by Kaolinite and the latest Daimohn, and Usagi sneaks after Haruka when she runs off to help. Chained together by the Daimohn, Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus come to understand each other a little better, and are able to defeat the Daimohn and save Sailor Neptune.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this episode. It's always stuck with me as one of the best throughout all 200 of the episodes. There's just something about it… I really have no clue what it is.

By the by – Kaolinite is the most pointless villain EVER. Like, stop psychoanalyzing your enemies and actually do something useful for once, bitch. (Excuse my language.) Even the stupid Daimohns are more useful than you. All you do is throw people off of cliffs with your hair. Yeesh. Alright, I'm done.

* * *

"Now, Mamo-chan," said Usagi sternly, wearing her lecture face, "I will be sixteen years old very soon and I'm not entirely incompetent in the kitchen. Let me make some for you!"

"What's it called, again?" he sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"French toast. And I've made it with Mako-chan _twice_, and there were absolutely no disasters."

"I hate to be the voice of pessimism," Mamoru drawled, "but your past record doesn't precisely scream positive recommendations."

"Mamo-_cha-an!" _she whined. "I can do it, I really can! If I burn them I'll just throw them out, and I _promise _to clean up." She leaned over him, her eyes big and wobbly and pathetic in his face. He groaned.

"Fine."

"Yay! You'll love it, I promise!" She kissed his forehead quickly and ducked off to the kitchen.

"You promised to tell me about your encounter with Uranus." He stood, stretched his shoulders the way he'd seen Luna stretch her own, and strode after Usagi. Depositing himself in a wooden chair, he watched with amusement as she trashed through his cabinets. "Looking for something?"

"Vanilla," she muttered.

"Next one over, to your right. Now what happened?"

"Aha," she murmured, seizing her prize. "Erm, well, if you have to know, I think Haruka-san is Sailor Uranus."

"_What?" _he yelped. Such an abrupt accusation from Usagi, so calm and decisive, was simply unthinkable. "What makes you say that?"

"They smell the same," she replied vaguely, bending to retrieve a mixing bowl. "And they have the same arms."

"The same arms," he repeated disdainfully.

"It's just a _hunch_, Mamo-chan, alright?" She twisted around to wink at him. "And it's just my opinion, anyway. I'm probably light years wrong. I usually am."

"So Tenoh Haruka and Sailor Uranus both smell like cheap men's cologne?"

"Actually, it's grown on me a bit," she mused. "Kind of pleasant, if you like something harsh and…" She scratched her upper lip, searching for the right word. "Biting?" Shrugging, she cracked two eggs into the bowl and whisked them together. "Which generally I don't," she continued, "but it's not _bad_. It's just different. Different from you, I mean."

Unsure of what to make of that, he said, "And that's all?"

"Oh, right, the story. Well, I got distracted and missed the bus, like you saw, and then Haruka-san offered me a ride home. But those men from before were in a huge truck and tried to run us off the road."

Unconsciously, he rose in his seat, leaning across the table. "They tried to _kill you_?" If _any _of them had laid a finger on his Usako, he would have… well, they'd have one angry Tuxedo Kamen to deal with, and one sharp swarm of roses coming their way. He gnawed on his lip distractedly; that didn't sound as intimidating as he'd have liked.

"I don't think they were _trying _to kill us," Usagi said nonchalantly, now pouring in drips of milk. "They could have, though. Haruka-san drove off the road and we hid in the bushes, and when they followed her tracks, she popped out and kicked them so fast – it was amazing! She's _strong_, Mamo-chan! And then she got a call, I think, although I couldn't really see her phone, but she said she had 'something urgent' and told me to take the bus…"

"And you followed her," he supplied, relaxing once more.

"Yes," she said stiffly. "I did."

He massaged his eyebrows together. "Usako, that's not… _smart_, to just run into potential danger, you know."

"What would _you_ have done?" she said, dipping bread into her mix.

"Mh," he said. She had him there.

She chuckled. "See? So when I got there Sailor Neptune was tied up and Kaolinite was there, and then Sailor Uranus and I got chained together by the Daimohn, and Neptune ordered us to run – just before she got thrown off a cliff by Kaolinite." She sucked in a tight breath. "So we ran to the cave, and she was wounded, and I cleaned it…"

"With what?" Mamoru interrupted.

"Water," she replied easily. "From the cave."

He smacked his forehead into his palms. "Usako! Do you realize how unsanitary that is?"

"It was really clean-looking! I wouldn't have used it if it was gross!"

"There could have been so many germs in there…"

"I didn't want it to get infected!"

"…and you could have infected her!"

She whirled around from the stove, rattling the frying pan that she was attempting to heat up. "We're not all_ medical students_, Mamoru-baka!"

"Oh good Lord, it's just common sense!"

"Maybe I haven't got any!" she shouted.

"Obviously not!"

"Just shut up and let me tell the stupid story," she growled, turning back sharply. "There's an important part. She said there was silence coming, and in order to prevent it, she needed the three talismans from pure hearts. She's willing to sacrifice those lives to save the world, and she and Neptune made a pact to do anything to get those talismans."

Mamoru frowned at the table for a long time. "That's funny," he said. "I had a dream just last night about silence approaching the world, but I didn't take it seriously… you know me and dreams."

"'Too many, too often, too unreliable'," Usagi quoted him. "Yeah, well, added onto Rei-chan's dream, I think there's something pretty constituent there."

"Consistent," Mamoru corrected her absentmindedly.

"Same thing."

The scent of butter and cinnamon prickled his nose as Usagi flipped her chef d'oeuvre in the pan. "Smells good, Usako."

"I _told _you," she said triumphantly. "And I love how sweet it is. You'll probably want to douse it with grapefruits, you're such a downer, but I like powdered sugar on them."

"With grapefruits?" The corner of his mouth twitched.

"Because they're _sour_," she explained. "Would you get plates?"

He obeyed diligently, his mind lost in the murky remnants of his crimson-bathed dream. "It was like a rumble," he muttered to himself, "like a huge cloud that came over the Earth, and crushed everyone on it – like stifling dust, suffocating…"

"Don't break the plate," Usagi joked, and he realized his hands were trembling quite roughly.

"Right. Sorry." He paid little attention as she scooped two thin pieces of bread onto his plate.

"You can sit now, Mamo-chan," she ordered, exasperated. Again, he complied wordlessly.

That destructive red cloud, roaring without a sound – it had clenched that place in his chest where his instinct lay, that one little tender spot that ached when something went wrong: when Sailor Moon was in battle, when half the city was sick with the flu two winters ago, when the threat of an enemy drew close and dangerous. And last night in the dream, as he watched Usagi scream in silence and disappear into dirt and ash, that place in his heart had almost burst, as if an invisible hand had reached inside him and _yanked_.

It was that place inside him that told him when Earth needed him, its protector. But in that dream, there was absolultely nothing he could do.

"Eat," Usagi ordered. He took one bite diligently and gagged.

"_Sweet_," he spluttered, reaching for a glass of water.

Usagi patiently dumped a little white pile of sugar atop her toast. "Mamo-chan," she said, "sometimes, I really don't understand you."

"At least you didn't burn down the place," he said. "See? I'm an optimist after all."

* * *

I was looking at what episodes are up ahead, and seeing I'm only about nine months older than Usagi at this point in both of our lives, I felt rather akin to her and decided to have her make French toast just as I did for dinner. Sorry if that's absolutely a ridiculous thing to do in Japan; I figured there was a hefty possibility of that, but that's why it's fanfiction, right?

Thanks for reading! (:


	11. Cape Boy and Odango Girl

Episode 99

Recap: Yuichiro sees Haruka giving Rei a ride home and later, when noticing Michiru and Haruka together, assumes Haruka is Rei's boyfriend who's cheating on her. He picks a fight with Haruka (who's completely confused) and Rei is furious that he didn't trust her. He packs up to leave but a Daimohn attacks him before he can get on the train, and Rei and the other Senshi return his pure heart.

Excellent fight scene in this one. I didn't remember it like I did the previous episode, but it's actually quite good. Yuichiro's hilarious: "THIS IS ADOLESCENCE!" I rofled (since that seems to be a verb now…).

Now I was kind of at a loss of what to write for this episode, but I have a silly little idea… Now I know Usagi's birthday is soon, and that's June 30th, so let's pretend Mamoru's spring semester runs _really _late just to make this all work out. Deal? Cool beans.

* * *

He felt the alarm flare in his brain right in the middle of the lecture, and with final exams approaching, he knew he couldn't risk missing much of the class. Briefly, he let his mind zip to where the Sailor Senshi were trapped on a train track, with some new ridiculous Daimohn reeling toward them. He flinched, silent prayers coursing through his nerves; but he couldn't keep his focus on the battle for long without automatically transporting to the site.

_She doesn't always need you_, he told himself. _She's strong, they're together. They'll find a way out of this. It's just another Daimohn. _

_And what if you're absolutely fucking wrong? s_houted the more Tuxedo-Kamen-prone part of him. _What if this is the one youma that can do her in? Are you honestly willing to risk her – _

_She can't die_, his reason quipped back. _She's perfectly alive in the future._

_But what if time doesn't work like that? Maybe that was just the most _likely _future, but some freak accident…_

He was seconds from leaping out of his chair and sprinting to the hallway and transforming then and there; but as his knuckles when white against the table, he refused to let himself weaken his resolve. _You won't always be there, _Cape boy, snarled his determination. _It's just a fact. Now that things are smoother, now that she understands her power better, she's got to be able to handle it herself. Without you._

Before, physics was all that could distract him from Usagi; but all he could think of was the clock ticking down, and he barely heard the professor's explanation of the problem he simply couldn't touch the night before. Perfect.

He ended up not-quite-leaping from his chair as soon as the clock struck the hour, and not-quite-sprinting to the hallway with his bag flying out behind him, and not-quite-transforming in the broom closet two corners away.

But mostly, he did just that.

He found himself on the roof of a metro stop; peering over the edge, he saw the five Senshi gathered around a young man he knew he recognized – that boy who worked at the shrine with Rei, wasn't it?

He leapt down silently, and watched as Sailor Mercury pressed a pure heart crystal into the boy's chest.

"Yuichiro?" said Sailor Mars, shaking him. "Yuichiro?"

The color bled back into his face, bit by bit, but he did not stir.

"Why aren't you answering?" said Sailor Mars angrily. "You're supposed to be fine now!"

Mamoru reached out with the tingling static waves that connected to the place in his chest where things were either alright, or crumbling; and he found that Yuichiro was, thankfully, the former. "He _is _fine," he said. "Or he will be."

The Senshi turned in unison; Sailor Moon, predictably, cried out, "Tuxedo Kamen-sa -!" But then she stopped herself. "Just Tuxedo Kamen!"

Sailor Mercury giggled. Apparently she remembered that conversation.

"You're late," said Sailor Jupiter with a cheery wink.

"Looks like you handled things fine yourself," he returned. "It's getting dark; do you want me to help you get him home?"

Mars shook her head. "He'd get too disoriented. He'd probably beat me up without meaning to. No, just help me get him on the bench."

She knelt, sliding her hand beneath his arms, and the other girls moved aside, allowing Mamoru to grab the boy's feet. With a grunt, Mars stood, and for a moment Mamoru thought she was going to drop him – he was a tall kid, after all – but she pursed her lips and heaved him onto the bench anyway. She was a strong girl, though she didn't show it much.

"I'll stay with him," said Mars, a protective glint in her hard black eyes. "You all can go."

"Are you sure?" said Sailor Moon, her brow furrowed.

"Of course she's sure," Sailor Venus interrupted, her eyes wide and dreamy. "It's a _lover's _thing, Sailor Moon. You wouldn't understand."

Sailor Moon turned to him in exasperation, and he gazed back at her seriously. "She's right, you know. You wouldn't understand a thing about that."

She laughed; Jupiter and Mercury joined in.

"Is the coast clear?" asked Mars curtly, cutting through their laughter.

"Yeah," said Jupiter, craning her neck over the horizon, "but I think there's a train coming. You'd better hurry."

Mars detransformed and settled down with Yuichiro's head in her lap. "Go on, all of you. Really."

The way she said it, it sounded more like "Get lost already, would you?"

"Alright," said Venus, standing and fluffing out her skirt. "We know when we're not wanted."

"Good," grunted Mars. "Saves me a lot of trouble."

"Are you going to change?" Mercury, back in her school uniform, eyed the oncoming train anxiously. "You ought to hurry."

Sailor Moon caught his eye and giggled; it was a scheming kind of giggle, and it made him rather nervous.

"I want to fight a youma," he said, rather drearily. He refused to admit to himself that it was more or less a whine.

"We don't _have _to change back," said Moon, flouncing forward. "We could just prance around town like this."

He snickered. "Cape Boy and Odango Girl?"

"The heroes of Tokyo, of course." She grinned widely. "Care to join us, Venus? You could be… um…" She chewed on her lower lip. "Um…"

"Snappy, this one," Mamoru announced to Venus.

Sailor Moon punched him in response. "Can _you _think of a good nickname for her?"

"Well, not really… The-Superheroine-Who-Can't-Pick-A-Color-Scheme?"

Moon cackled gleefully. "She really can't, can she?"

"What's wrong with my color scheme?" cried Venus.

"The _train!" _Mercury screamed.

It was too late. The metro screeched to a halt right before them. Three teenage girls in high school fukus, one boy unconscious on a bench, and three others dressed as Sailor Venus, Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Kamen awaited the four passengers who exited the train: two businessmen, who hardly glanced up, and a young boy and his mother.

"Look, look, it's Sailor Moon!"

Moon was rooted to the spot, a laugh dancing just behind her eyes though she was still as a statue.

"No, sweetheart, it's just some kids dressed up. Let's go."

"No, really, it's Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Kamen!" The boy broke free of his mother's hand and dashed up to them.

"Shiro!" she called after him, but he raced straight up to Mamoru and stared up at him in wonder.

"Are you really Tuxedo Kamen?" he whispered.

Mamoru nodded solemnly.

"Why are you just standing around at a train station, then?"

"Shiro!" repeated his mother, marching over to them. She bowed briefly to Mamoru. "I'm sorry, he's such an admirer of Tuxedo Kamen, although…" Her eyes scanned Mamoru briefly, a frown etched upon her lips. "Anyhow, I'm sorry for bothering you…"

"It's no trouble," he said, twitching his fingers, and he handed her a freshly blooming rose.

Shiro's mouth dropped.

The woman stared at the flower with a distinct apprehension, so Mamoru offered it to Shiro instead. "Arigato," he murmured.

"Let's go," muttered the woman, dragging him away. The little boy gaped over his shoulder at Mamoru until he was out of sight.

"You _bakas!" _Rei cried from the bench. "Do you realize if Kaolinite was still around just how much you could have compromised our identities?"

"Don't be so uptight, Rei-chan," said Venus loftily. "There was no harm done."

"Why are _you_ so popular all of a sudden?" Sailor Moon accused Mamoru. "I always thought it was Sailor Moon who was the real…" She hunched her shoulders, searching for the right word, and gave up. "The popular one."

"Of course you _would _think that," Mamoru said cheekily. "Seems you were wrong."

"If you don't transform," said Makoto, who was eyeing Rei's beet-red face, "I think Rei's going to explode."

"You're right," Venus sighed, fading into her uniform. "She's going to blow a casket."

"_Gasket_, Minako-chan!" Rei barked. "The phrase is blow a _gasket!"_

"She's going to blow _something_," Mamoru muttered, and the girl next to him, who was suddenly Usagi, laughed.

"Come on, Cape Boy, before she eats you."

"I want to fight a youma," he complained. "I've been cooped up in classes all day and I've got finals coming up. I need to blow off some steam."

"You can fight me," said Usagi cheerily.

"You're right, you're as good as a youma anyway…"

"HEY!" she screeched, barreling punches into his abdomen. "You baka -!"

For such a skinny girl, she sure could make an impact. He grabbed her by the wrists until she gave up, half glowering, half grinning.

"Why do you think that woman was so skeptical?" he mused aloud. "It makes me wonder how many people stand around at train stations dressed up like us."

Usagi snickered. "Probably thousands."

"They arrive in droves," he narrated softly. "They gravitate by the millions to stand beneath the roof and wait for the passengers to arrive."

"You're so _weird_, Mamo-chan."

"WOULD YOU ALL LEAVE ALREADY?" Rei roared.

With a start, he looked around and realized he and Usagi were the only ones left. "Yes, Hino-sama, many apologies, Hino-sama," said Mamoru rather impertinently, and, with his cape still trailing behind him, he took Usagi by the wrist and dragged her off.

"Where are we going?" she asked excitedly, grabbing onto his arm. He loved how she did that –

not in the tentative flirtatious way that many girls used to impose upon him, but in a "I'm here and you're here and we're in the same damn place so let's go already" kind of way. It was refreshing.

"No idea."

"They're right, you know. You could compromise my identity if you don't transform."

"You find me a youma, and then I'll transform."

"Mamo-chan," she sighed, "it's strange, but you're acting very young."

He nodded slowly. "That's true. You bring out the immaturity in me, Sailor Moon."

"So this is _my _fault, Mamoru-baka?"

"More or less." His legs itched, to run, to burn, to pulse with that familiarity of adrenaline. "What do you say we go see if Haruka-san has a race?"

"At night?"

"You never know."

"Alright, but you have to change, Mamoru!"

With a low groan, he glanced around the empty pathway and flickered his cape into his very boring, very non-youma-fighting, very finals-taking clothes.

* * *

Okay so that was kind of on crack (I'M SO TIRED RIGHT NOW AHHH) and in no way influenced by my resentment towards midterms next week. Sorry you had to put up with that.

As always, I am in your debt because you read. (:


	12. Ways to Make Love

Episode 100 (yay 100?)

Recap: Minako feels kind of alone and desolate since everyone in her grade is pairing off. She has a brief moment of crushing on an old fellow volleyball player, Asai, but then he gets a girlfriend (that kind of pissed me off). Then she saves his pure heart by pulling a kick-ass volleyball move and feels better. Okay, so that was a terrible summary, but this episode was really adorable. Definitely worth watching. YEESH I LOVE THIS SEASON.

Also – one of the best moments ever:

Kaolinite: What is your favorite sport, Professor?

Professor: Stair stepping.

*Awkward silence*

HAHAHAHA. That made my day.

So anyway… I ran through about 3 different beginnings for this chapter before deciding on something totally unrelated. It's late, I'm tired, I'm stressed. I write much more adeptly when my characters are in similar situations. Hence:

* * *

He knew, in the back of his mind, that it was a dream, but he couldn't quite grasp at the concept, and so it eluded him, taunted him, while things grew more and more frenzied. First there was Sailor Venus, writing a list, and she turned to him and said, "Usagi, what's the four hundredth and twenty-first way to make love?" And then he wasn't Usagi anymore, he was Kaolinite, and he was watching the Daimohn throw the pure heart across a gymnasium, only instead of Sailor Venus intercepting it, it was taken by Sailor Uranus, who looked him straight in the eye and said, "Silence is approaching," and Sailor Neptune's wide aqua eyes engulfed him as she murmured, "The sea is growing stormy," and then it reverted, as it always did, to that rumbling cloud of red dust, and Sailor Moon and the other Senshi were like red stone statues that crumbled in a nuclear wind, and then there was silence, even as he yelled and pled, and the place in his chest that was the welfare of the world pulsated and ached and -

Shattered.

He awoke screaming, but stopped abruptly when he realized he was on his couch and making a hell of a racket. Sheets were tangled and damp around his legs, and roughly he shoved them off; he stumbled into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Glug, glug, glug, it poured down his throat, tasting of bile and germs and bad breath.

"Mamo-chan?"

He practically jumped out of his skin; he dropped his glass, and it shattered over the tiles of his kitchen. Usagi, a frail white ghost in the darkness, gasped and jumped back.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered. "I heard you yelling…"

A heavy and terrible noise ripped out of his throat, a sound that reeked of complete loss. The whole earth was reeling toward silence...

"Mamo-chan?"

He couldn't slow his heart; he couldn't tame his breath. Something hot and wet and foreign was coursing down his face, and his legs couldn't tell which way was down. He tried to step forward and landed on a piece of glass; swearing, he yanked it out of his foot and smeared off a trickle of blood, running black in the night. Realizing it was futile to move, he pressed his back against the cabinets and slid down into a crouch.

"Are you alright?" she hissed.

"Can you get the light?" he said through a cracked voice.

His eyes followed her silhouette, barely visible, to the wall, where she groped for the switch; light smacked him hard in the face, and he squeezed his eyes shut as they watered even more. He heard a quick intake of breath and a rummaging sort of sound, and when he managed to squint his eyes open, he saw Usagi carefully sweeping the glass into his dustpan.

"Sorry," he muttered. He couldn't quite remember what he was apologizing for, but he could feel the guilt.

Her eyes, bloodshot and exhausted, flickered up to meet his. "Dream?" she murmured.

He nodded.

She continued her work, and he hunched there, the sole of his foot oozing a small trail of blood, water rushing down his face, his breaths hitched and fast. Why did this dream affect him so much? It was the same as it had been before – yet previously, the squeezing of that place near his heart hadn't been quite so _violent_. And it certainly hadn't shattered that way – shattered like the glass that Usagi was pouring into the waste bin. Unconsciously, he clutched at his bare chest, trying to find that hollow inside to reassure himself that the earth was still alive and so was Usagi and so was he.

But the water from his eyes kept running.

He remained in a daze, half aware of what was happening, as Usagi pressed something wet to his foot, and then something sticky, and suddenly he was in her arms; she stroked his sleep-tangled hair, pressed her lips against his forehead, murmured things he couldn't understand, and gradually his eyes grew raw and dry and drooped.

"Sorry," he repeated, his voice grating.

"Was it the same dream?" she asked softly.

He nodded into her shoulder. "Worse," he grunted. "Gone. Everything…" His hand returned to his chest, searching, begging for reassurance from that connection to life. "Everything broke. For good. It never broke that way before." His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her tighter to him. "Don't leave," he whispered.

She didn't reply; she simply knelt there and held him, her long loose hair hanging tent-like over his face. She smelled of spring and vanilla and soap.

His mind wandered, began to melt into semi-consciousness; he remembered the beginning of the dream, and suddenly he chuckled – or more accurately, croaked – into her shirt.

"What?" she asked, sounding rather disconcerted.

"Venus was making a list," he mumbled, his words slurring together. "'Ways to Make Love'."

"Mamo-chan?" Definitely disconcerted.

"She didn't mean it that way," he explained, in an attempt to reassure her. "She meant to say, ways to inspire love in the world. But she was never too good with syntax, was she?" He snorted again. "Number four hundred and twenty was Godiva Chocolate."

"Alright," said Usagi patiently, in a tone that told him she doubted his sanity. "Come on." She stood, and took his wrist; he followed her blindly like a dog on a lead, and when she turned off the light he was as good as blinded anyway. He couldn't remember why she had decided to stay over in the first place – his brain was too murky – but he remembered that she was sleeping in his room, and it was with a tinge of surprise that he found himself back in there with her, with the stars pouring blankly through the open window.

His eyes were adjusted enough to see her pull back the blankets and climb into his bed, and wordlessly he followed suit; she shifted around and drew his head to her chest, soothing him with the rise and fall of her breath like the rhythm of waves. _Just like when Chibiusa was around_, he thought vaguely. Usagi had spent the night much more often then, just like this. He'd missed hearing her breath, feeling it stir through his hair. Her thumb gently moved across his cheek, feeling the stains beneath his eyes. It had been a long time since he'd grown so emotional over a dream; he reached once more to the hollow in his chest and pressed his hand there, silently praying that the burst he'd felt there was never fully realized.

"I won't let them destroy the world," Usagi whispered.

"But what if they do?" he replied mutedly.

"They won't, Mamoru." She kissed the top of his head. "I won't allow it."

"It was like bones," he mumbled. "Bones breaking." He felt as incoherent as he sounded, but it seemed very important to describe the sensation of shattering within him when the dream had culminated. "And people couldn't scream, Usako. That was the worst part. They couldn't scream. They had to be silent and watch and die."

"Shh," she ordered, perhaps more harshly than she intended. "It won't happen." And over and over again, a steady mantra: "It won't happen, I promise, it won't happen."

As he felt himself begin to drift again, a half-thought formed in his mind of Venus' list, and he thought he'd better remind her that Tsukino Usagi was the focal point of all love in the universe; but by that point, he was asleep, and so it was rather hard to concentrate after that.

* * *

Alright, let's face it: I'm running out of ideas. If there are any situations you'd like these two to be thrown in, for the episodes that aren't so inspirational, please let me know! I'd appreciate a nudge in some sort of direction, if you can spare it!

As always, I owe you a fraction of my soul for reading. (:


	13. Recap Episode 101

Alright, people. We got a situation here. Episodes 101 and 102 are pretty heavily connected, so I think it would be better for me not to insert anything in between that might *gasp* mess with canon! But here's a little recap, just so you're caught up:

It's Usagi's birthday and the girls don't seem to care. She feels all dejected, but when Mamoru doesn't remember either, she slaps him straight across the face. Ouch. Then she goes to study with the girls and they throw her a surprise party, where she finally realizes she never told him when her birthday is. (*Facepalm*) So Mamoru gets her these shoes to make up for it, and she runs to apologize, but there's a _Daimohn _in the shoe, and then the Daimohn throws her brooch away, and then Kaolinite picks it up, and then there's this epic chase into a parking garage, and then Tuxedo Kamen fights the Daimohn with his cane-sword, and then gets frozen by its breath (??), and Usagi is AT THE MERCY OF KAOLINITE OH DEAR GOD!

So yeah. It just cuts off kind of awkwardly, hence my decision to wait.

And I must apologize if I don't post quite as regularly anymore. It's called "Wow, midterms are tomorrow, I should really be studying." But I hope to be back on track by this Friday.

I'd rather be watching Sailor Moon. Who wouldn't?


	14. Surprises

Ok, folks. Sorry for the delay. This is dedicated to my friend Vallie-chan on her birthday (she's the one who suggested the darker tone, not me. *runs and hides*)

Episode 102

Recap: Kaolinite, who realizes that Usagi is Sailor Moon, takes the _glass_ (not ice, I beg your pardon) Mamoru to Tokyo Tower. Usagi races after her without thinking and gets de-pure-heart-ified, but luckily she didn't have a talisman. Then the other Senshi arrive, with Venus disguised as a really ridiculous-looking Sailor Moon, which makes Kaolinite cast Usagi aside and throw the brooch away. Kaolinite leaves the Daimohn, Senishenta, to handle the Inner Senshi, while Uranus and Neptune take her on further up in the tower. Usagi transforms and beats Senishenta, and Mamoru's glass case shatters. They decide to help Uranus and Neptune, and defeat Kaolinite's shield with the Sailor Planet Attack; and Uranus deals the final blow with WORLDDDD SHAKING! (BEST. ATTACK. _EVER_.) Kaolinite falls off the tower. Sayonara, beyotch.

4 reasons to love this episode:

1. Venus: (pretending to be Sailor Moon) Special attack Love Me Moon Chain!

Usagi: …That attack doesn't exist!

2. Senishenta: (after losing her arm) My arm! *Takes out paper entitled "Product Warranty"* "If the merchandise breaks we'll replace it with a new one." Whew! I'm glad I'm under warranty!

3. Usagi's speech: I won't allow you to blow up the tower that sends happy, fun TV programs to living rooms all over the country! In the name of the viewers, I'll punish you!

4. _Sailor Senshi are all standing together with Tuxedo Kamen. He throws a rose_.

Usagi: *sounding completely surprised* Tuxedo Kamen-sama!

Audience (a.k.a. me): HE'S _BEEN _THERE FOR FIVE MINUTES, GODDAMMIT!

And yet I love this show anyway.

* * *

They sat in silence on the shrine porch, listening to the girls bickering inside.

"Usako," said Mamoru distantly.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry your shoes are gone."

She snorted almost derisively and glanced up at him through her eyelashes, which he noticed they were slightly singed from some aspect of their battle; for some reason it made him want to laugh. "I'm sorry I put you in danger because of me," she replied, sounding quite morose. But she brightened almost forcibly and tilted her head towards him on her palm. "And I always get a lot of love from you, anyway, Mamo-chan." She pressed her hand to his chest, to the place she knew held his fountain of life, his connection to earth, and he caught her fingers there gently. They stared at each other for a moment, briefly reeling in a shared cerulean gaze, before –

"_Man_, talk about setting up a mood in someone else's house!" The voice was distinctly Makoto-ish.

Usagi sighed wearily, her shoulders drooping, and Mamoru chuckled a bit drily. There was never a moment's peace around these girls.

"Hey, are you listening?" The fiery bristle suggested Rei was the speaker. "We're not at an _inn!"_

"We aren't even _doing anything," _Usagi whispered, her face pink and mortified.

"If you're going to be all cuddly, go home!" Minako screeched into the ruckus.

Mamoru looked sideways at Usagi, who was leaning into his shoulder and staring fixedly at the ground. "How about it?" he murmured.

"What, leave?" She rubbed her cheek as if trying to remove her blush by friction.

"Yeah. I've got an idea of a real present for you." He leaned down a few inches to her ear. "It involves chocolate."

She sprang to her feet immediately. "Mamoru-san, I wholly approve of that suggestion."

He stood after her, stretching, with a grin spread across his face. "Doesn't take much, does it?"

She stood beaming before him, her hands clasped behind her back, and shook her head vigorously. "No, sir."

"Good riddance," called Rei nastily.

"Rei-chan," Ami scolded her in hushed tones. "Happy birthday, Usagi!" She waved. "Ja!"

The other girls seemed to remember, then, and hollered in a dissonant chorus, "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday, Usagi!"

"Ja ne! Happy birthday!"

"Don't get too bold now that you're sixteen!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Minako?"

"We don't want her _consummating _her rise to semi-adulthood…"

"_Mina!"_

There were sounds of muffled attack, and Mamoru could only assume Rei had begun to beat her with a pillow. He managed to keep his peals of laughter out of their earshot, or so he hoped, but Usagi grew to resemble a sunburned beet. "I wish they wouldn't," she said desperately.

"How much worse do they tease when I'm _not_ around?" Mamoru chuckled.

"You have no idea," she griped, yanking on a pigtail with vigor.

He hummed his pity in response and they said nothing, though Usagi continued to tug violently on her hair.

"I was scared tonight, Mamo-chan," she muttered as they clapped down the pathway away from the Hikawa shrine. "It was _all_ scary. You getting frozen in glass though… that was the worst."

"It was the worst for me, too," agreed Mamoru somewhat facetiously.

Usagi glared. "That's not funny."

"It's a little funny."

"It's _not_."

"It is, see how hard I'm laughing." He gazed placidly at her, not laughing a bit.

She crossed her arms tight against her small chest and huffed. "Maybe you should shut up."

He snorted. "Sorry."

"You don't _sound _sorry."

"Are you just being this argumentative because it's your birthday and you can, or are you really that pissed off about your Daimohn shoes trying to turn me into a sculpture?"

"Yes, I'm mad!" she cried. "I'm mad because no matter what happens, you always get taken away from me!" She flushed slightly. "And I don't mean – you know I don't mean that badly, but it's my fault, because you try to protect me, and then before I can even stop you there's all these horrible things happening to you, and I can't _stand _that!"

He was glad the streets were mostly empty; she was making quite a scene.

"Usako," he said frankly, "nothing is going to happen to me."

"You could have shattered!" Her voice was shriller than that Daimohn Octave from a few weeks ago – well, alright, nothing was _that _shrill, but it was pretty damn close.

"But I didn't," he reminded her with the utmost patience.

"But Kaolinite _did_, and it could have been _you!" _

"That's funny," he said, the sarcasm itching back in, though he did his best to rein it back, "I didn't realize that I was made of glass shards glued together when I saw myself in Crystal Tokyo."

"Mamoru," she growled, "I _love _you."

She sounded so ridiculous, with those words coming out of her mouth as if they were the foulest swear she could muster up, that he had to laugh. "I love you too, odango atama." He snatched her hand from its limp position at her side, enclosing it in his own.

"I'm angry with you now," she grumbled, but didn't take her hand away.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "That's a problem, certainly. Are you going to slap me again?"

She seemed so on edge that he was frankly surprised she didn't burst into tears; instead, she whirled around and buried her face in his chest. Immediately, he felt horrible for provoking her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "That was such a terrible thing to do."

"No, forget about it," he muttered. "I shouldn't have – that was stupid of me. Forget about it."

"I can't believe that was today." She pressed her ear against his heart and her cheek against his sternum, behind which the heart of the earth, too, beat silently. "So many things happened today. No one would say happy birthday, and then I _hit_ you, and then the girls surprised me, and then I went to find you, and then the Daimohn came, and my heart got sucked out _twice_…" Her eyes appeared, big and mournful, below him. "Do you know that _hurts_, Mamo-chan?"

He wrapped his arms more snugly around her. "I watched you scream," he mumbled. "I know." He frowned for a moment. "You know, it's not fair, Usako, for you to say you hate to see _me _get turned into glass when I'm the one who has to watch your pure heart get torn out of you twice in one day."

She chomped down on her bottom lip, considering. "I didn't think of that," she admitted.

"So maybe we're equally martyrs for watching the other suffer," he suggested cheekily.

She exhaled quickly, amused. "Maybe we are."

"Let's go," he said softly, taking her hand again and leading her down the pearly lamp lit streets.

* * *

She hung more tightly to Mamoru's arm than usual, but who could blame her? The day seemed to have stretched on forever, and while her birthdays had generally gone too fast before, this one seemed to taunt her with its unending roller coaster of wonderful and terrible surprises. Up-and-down, up-and-down. She was starting to get a bit nauseous, and so it was little surprise to her that her feet dragged, her eyes drooped; her power was drained from the Sailor Planet attack, and emotionally, she was exhausted.

And so it was in the midst of a hazy mist of routinely moving her legs forward, one step at a time, that her phone buzzed abruptly. She jolted as if shocked by electricity, and Mamoru started at her sudden movement.

"Kind of jumpy, aren't we?" he said, recomposing himself.

She ignored him and dug out her phone. It was her mother. Joy.

"Hi, Mama," she said, flipping the stupid thing open.

"Usagi, where are you? When you called earlier you said you were going to be home after dinner at Rei's."

"Oh – well, you know how parties get, Mama. I think all the girls are sleeping over, after all." She furtively ignored Mamoru's probing eyes.

"Without any of your things?" Typical Mama, to worry about not having pajamas.

"We're all girls! We'll make do."

"Well make sure you get a toothbrush, somehow, and get all that cake out of your teeth. I'm going to the dentist tomorrow, and I don't want to have to drag you along with me."

"I'll do my best," said Usagi in a deadpan.

"I don't hear Minako yelling in the background. Why is it so quiet?" Did she _have _to have a mother who was so inquisitive?

"Oh, I just ducked in the other room when I saw you were calling."

"I thought Minako's voice could break through walls," said her mother fondly.

"Mm," said Usagi vaguely. "Well, I should go, Mama. I'll see you in the morning."

"What time?"

"Mama!" Usagi groaned. "I'm sixteen already, do you have to know _every _detail?"

"I'm only wondering, Usagi, I've got that dental appointment at eleven. And knowing you and those girls, you'll call me at ten tomorrow night and tell me you decided to take a trip to Australia. Well, never mind the time, just try not to stay over all day; you've got studying to do this weekend. Do you have your key?"

"Yes, I have my key," she seethed.

"Alright, then. Have a fun time, and happy birthday. I love you."

"Bye, Mama." She snapped her phone shut vehemently. What did she expect Usagi to do, anyway? Besides spend the night at Mamoru's, of course…

"Who hired the Spanish Inquisition?" asked Mamoru with one of his evil smirks. **

"She's always like that," Usagi replied, feeling rather injured. "She doesn't trust me."

"And why ever not?" Mamoru continued conversationally. "Well, I'm sure the girls will be surprised to see you turn up again."

For a moment she thought he had actually taken her seriously, but one long look at him revealed that he was joking. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked. "I've missed staying at your place, ever since Chibiusa left."

"Me too," he said. "It sure was hard to feel lonely with the two of you going at each other's throats."

She peered up at him and felt a pang at how he could say such things without any fluctuation of tone, or expression, or _anything_. It would be better if he acted as though it hurt him to be alone, because that would mean he wasn't too… too numb to it. But she knew talking about how he felt made him feel uncomfortable, weakened, and so, out of respect for him, she kept her mouth shut. He was one of the few people she would bother keeping quiet for.

The silence made her fidgety, and something itched at the back of her mind – something she knew she was forgetting to tell him. Instead, she said, "Mamo-chan, when _is _your birthday?" Her eyes found the sidewalk and intricately traced its contours. "Just so I know, when it comes around."

He laughed lightheartedly. "August third."

"Oh." She frowned. "That's funny. I would have thought you had a winter birthday."

"Why's that?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "You just seem the type." Then it hit her. "Oh! That's what I couldn't remember. Mamoru – Haruka-san _is _Sailor Uranus. And Michiru-san is Sailor Neptune."

He met her eyes solemnly. "Another hunch, or do you have proof?"

Uncertainly, she shook her head. "I just _feel _it. Haruka-san offered me a ride to Tokyo Tower when Kaolinite took you there, and we were driving under the bridge, and something about the lighting made me see things differently… it just _fit_. Like a click in a lock. They look _exactly like them _and I can't believe I didn't see it before." She shot him a sidelong glance, but his lip was taut, his eyes glazed over in deep concentration. "It's the same way I felt when I realized you were Tuxedo Kamen – that I couldn't believe there had been that _wall _in my head for so long. It was just so obvious."

Mamoru nodded. "I know what you mean. With you, it was more like… like I _did_ know, the whole time, but every time I went to put my finger on it – it slipped away."

Abruptly, Mamoru pitched forward, and Usagi yelped, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back upright. With a wry frown he bent down and untangled what seemed to be a silk scarf from around his feet.

"What is it, Mamo-chan?" asked Usagi curiously. "Did it get caught around your legs?"

He didn't respond; he just crouched there, silently, the wine-colored fabric fluttering in a humid breeze.

"Mamo-chan?"

"She needs our help," he said hoarsely. And suddenly she was flying behind him, hardly keeping up save for her fingers ensnared in his; his feet slapped heavily on the concrete, sending vapid echoes into the bare street behind them, and hers pattered quickly and quietly behind.

"What's going _on_?" Usagi gasped. He reeled to a sudden halt as a car whizzed past, then dragged her across the road. He seemed to know just where he was going, but the buildings that flashed by her grew more and more unfamiliar, smaller and meeker and dustier.

Mamoru finally stopped, his chest heaving, in front of a small apartment building. There was a small alleyway between the building and its neighbor, and he jerked his head silently towards it.

"Transform," he ordered under his breath. "Quietly."

Adrenaline pulsed hot and fiery from her heart as she grasped for her brooch and murmured, "_Moon Cosmic Power, Make-Up!" _

In a rippling flash, she felt silk enfold her skin, heat blazing from her pores, light blaring behind her closed lids. And then she was Sailor Moon, who opened her eyes and looked to Tuxedo Kamen for some sort of explanation.

"Mugged," he murmured. "Come on."

Their minds seemed to merge together in a seamless connection, as if they were a single soul that only happened to possess two bodies. Tuxedo Kamen darted away, blending into the night, while Sailor Moon stealthily approached the alleyway. Only as she neared the dark opening did she begin to hear the muffled cries and protests.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark, as they tended to do when she was transformed – _just one of the many perks_, she thought grimly; she peered around the corner and saw three men crowded around a small, slender woman, who was gagged with a thick black cloth that seemed to be a torn t-shirt. One of the men rooted through what Sailor Moon presumed was the woman's purse while the second held her roughly against the brick wall. The third had her pressed up against the wall, and Sailor Moon was fairly sure she heard him moaning.

Her heart skipped a beat. She'd fought glass-blowing youma and powerful women in red dresses whose hair could lash out and get you, and she'd defeated Death Phantom and the Dark Moon, but this… She felt her throat swell up so that she couldn't swallow. It was just too close to what Dimande would have done to her, if Tuxedo Kamen… if Mamoru hadn't intervened…

_Whhhsh_.

A single red rose plunged into the middle of the alleyway. The man searching the back glanced at it uncertainly. "A flower?" she heard him mutter. "Hey, where the hell did this come from?"

"Huh?"

_Whhsh_.

Another rose zipped past the third man's arm, searing through his jacket. He flinched at the pain and paused in his activities to gape at the second rose, now lying on the ground. "What the – oh, _shit!"_

"What?"

"It's _him!" _The third man detached himself from the woman, who slid to the ground in a shuddering heap, to gaze blankly around the skies. "Tuxedo Kamen!"

The second man kicked the woman, and immediately she fell still and silent. "Tuxedo who?"

"You're telling me you've never heard about him? He's all over Tokyo, always meddling in things… he's been in the papers forever…"

"That's true," said Mamoru's voice. "Allow me to introduce myself."

With a gentle leap, he plunged from the roof's edge, his cape billowing out behind him, and landed gently on his toes. "Vermin who take advantage of innocent women are not worthy of the beauty of the rose," he said in his dramatic tones.

Sailor Moon rolled her eyes. Could he manage to make sense for once in his life?

"Unfortunately, I don't arm myself with garbage," he continued, and in half a second had pinned the third man to the wall with a half-dozen roses. The man's pants were still dropped around his knees, and Sailor Moon prudently averted her eyes.

"Oh _shit_," said the second man. "You weren't kidding!" He looked to the first man; the purse was drooping from his fingers, and he gazed around like a cornered rabbit in uncertainty.

"Come on," he grumbled finally, "we outnumber him."

Sailor Moon knew a cue when she heard one. "That's where you're wrong!" She darted into the alleyway, where Tuxedo Kamen was warding off the two men with his cane. Picking up her pace, she slammed full speed into the second man, aiming a kick at his back; he crashed into the wall and lay there, momentarily stunned.

"_That's _for love and justice, you _pervert!" _she screeched.

"Oh, mixed it up, hm?" Tuxedo Kamen asked her lazily, sending sporadic thwacks into the first man's gut; the former seemed to be quite relaxed, and perhaps even enjoying himself. "You can give up anytime you like," he added. The man lunged for his throat, but Tuxedo Kamen sidestepped him and gave him a nice strike on the backside.

Letting him do the clean-up work, Sailor Moon knelt down beside the shivering bundle that was the woman. "You're alright now," she said softly, her heart aching at the sight of a pair of terrified eyes. Why, this was no woman – this was a young girl, perhaps five years older than Sailor Moon at best. Gently, she removed the rough black t-shirt from the girl's mouth. "Do you hurt very badly?"

She nodded her head tentatively; her eyes were bloodshot and swollen with tears, and Sailor Moon noticed a stain of blood trickling down her leg. "Let me help you," she murmured, gently coaxing the girl off the ground and shielding her exposed areas with her own body. She helped the girl's vibrating hands rebuckle her pants around her waist, and the girl began to sob freely now, out of what seemed to be a mixture of pain, fear, and trauma.

"We should take you to the hospital," Sailor Moon said, her hand gently rubbing the girl's back. "Just in case. Are you hurt anywhere besides…?"

The girl shook her head violently. "N-no," she stuttered, finally managing to speak. "I don't think so. Not badly."

"I found something of yours," said Tuxedo Kamen abruptly, appearing at Sailor Moon's elbow. He handed over the wine-colored scarf.

The girl's eyes widened even more; she clutched the scarf to her chest, before burying her face in it and bawling silently. Sailor Moon stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. They stood there, waiting, for countless minutes, until she emerged, her nose and eyes still running.

"It'll be faster if I carry you," Tuxedo Kamen said as if no time had passed. "Is that alright? I'll be careful."

The girl looked to Sailor Moon fearfully. "Is there another way?" she whispered.

"It'll hurt less than walking," Sailor Moon assured her, "and we'll be there faster. Don't worry, he's very… erm… smooth. At running."

She received a skeptical glance from Tuxedo Kamen, but nothing more. "Let's go," he said, wrapping the girl's arm around his neck and picking her up from the knees. With a quick bound, he launched to the rooftops; Sailor Moon followed, and together they flowed like moonlight over the city.

* * *

He tried to ignore the stares as he left the police station; they were fewer than those from the hospital staff, but it was still, well, sort of awkward.

"Did they believe you?" asked Sailor Moon, who had waited outside.

"Yeah. I had to prove it though." A grin twitched at his mouth at the thought. "Apparently they get more prank calls from Tuxedo Kamen than I'd have expected."

"What did you do?" she asked curiously.

"Pinned a guy to his chair."

She gaped. "You didn't."

Uncertainly, he wriggled. "I was impatient. I want those men in jail."

"Well, I'm glad that's all settled." Sailor Moon leaned against the station wall and gazed up at the murky summer sky. "I hope she's alright."

"She's in good hands now. The rest is up to them." He just hoped the hospital would take good care of her, but it was useless to worry.

"I guess so." She scowled at the ground. "Those _bakas_, how could they do something like that? It's – it's – it's …"

"Despicable?" supplied Tuxedo Kamen. Always sharp on the vocabulary, she was.

"Despicable!" She groaned in blatant hatred. "Come on, Kamen-chan, let's go."

"I thought you promised you weren't going to call me that," he said, grimacing, as they leapt into the air.

"It's cute!"

"It's repulsive!"

They landed outside his apartment less than a minute later. "See," said Tuxedo Kamen unhappily, "these are the times when I really wish I had a balcony or something."

"So you don't have to climb the stairs as Tuxedo Kamen?" Sailor Moon giggled.

"So I don't have to transform outside, baka."

They drifted into the shadows until the coast was clear, then emerged as Mamoru and Usagi once again. Wordlessly, they entered the building, and Mamoru punched the button for the elevator; he was too tired to take the stairs. As the elevator creaked upward, Usagi leaned into his chest, and he pressed his chin against the top of her head; when they reached his level, he dropped a kiss on each of her odangos before releasing her.

Usagi let out a small, weary sigh as he fumbled for his key, and both of them exhaled tangible relief when the door creaked open and revealed their sanctuary. Mamoru pocketed his key and drifted through the hallway, feeling rather detached from his feet. "Some birthday, huh?"

"Not exactly what I expected," Usagi replied, yawning. She collapsed onto his couch and slapped her feet up on the coffee table; her eyes drifted half-closed.

"Hey, don't fall asleep," he warned. "I have to make you a chocolate cake."

Obediently, she stood once more and walked restlessly toward the kitchen. "But Mamo-chan," she whined, "I'm _tired."_

That was it. Of all the things to snap him, it was a stupid whine, but as soon as she said it, he scooped her up in his arms and kissed her madly; she squeaked in surprise and wrapped her dangling legs around his waist (how in the world was she so damn _tiny?) _and drove her fingers into his hair and kissed him back with the fervor of a sixteen year old girl who had fought far too much for one birthday.

He pulled away gasping like a wet fish out of water, and said, "Do you like chocolate or vanilla icing?"

She laughed and kissed his nose. "I can't believe I'm saying this, after today," she said, "but… surprise me."

* * *

**NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION! I hope Monty Python fans picked up on that - I couldn't resist.

Things I tampered with:

1. The beginning is slightly different from how the anime episode ends. I just took some liberties. *shrug*

2. Yep, that's right, people. I said it: Usagi's small chest. Not all 16 year olds have C cups. Another liberty.

3. Well, you already knew I played around with Mamoru's powers. No surprise there.

4. Canon. *Runs and hides - again*

So... yeah. Probably not what you expected, but there it is. Thanks for reading! (:


	15. Cliches

Recap: Rei is helping to organize a festival and she asks Tohno Maya, a fantastic Japanese drum player, to perform in order to make the festival more popular. Maya's pure heart is targeted, and it's not a talisman, but Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars get caught by a Daimohn and are about to get clobbered when - *gasp* - _Sailor Chibi Moon appears!_ And at first her "Pink Sugar Heart Attack" doesn't work, but the Daimohn patiently waits around and then gets zapped by – you guessed it – pink sugar hearts. By then Sailor Moon has freed herself and she destroys the Daimohn. Hooray.

So here's some unadulterated fluff to counteract yesterday's post. Hooray.

* * *

Mamoru flipped disinterestedly through TV channels and paused at a low-budget horror film. Zombies, brains, fake-looking blood. His thumb fluttered, about to skip to the next program, but somehow he hesitated, and found himself laughing at the corny acting, the predictable screams, the "don't-open-the-door-you-baka" moments, the gory decapitations. The more guts he saw, the harder he laughed, and it scared him even more than the movie did that he had reason to doubt his sanity once more.

Because there was no doubt about it. The dreams were getting to him. He hugged his knees to his chest and set his chin between them. He knew the earth could not be destroyed; he knew it because he had seen the future. And yet he knew far better than to dismiss his dreams, as painful as they might be; his future self had sent him dreams before for a purpose.

It was a stupid purpose, though. He scowled. Trying to test his love for Usagi – as if _he, _future or present,didn't know better than anyone that he'd… he'd… do some horrific cliché for her and say it to her face and not care about how cheesy it sounded! Like fly to the moon or travel to hell and back or… he couldn't even think of any other bad lines.

But regardless, someone, somewhere, was trying to tell him… something. That there _was _impending danger. That the earth _could _very well be destroyed. That silence _could _– and very nearly might – come.

And it might come absolutely. He'd never given serious thought to the issue of time travel, but it did pose serious questions as to the role of fate in his life. Was he positively destined to end up the way he saw his future self, or was that simply one of many alternative realities he could live out? Was there truly a potential future in which silence did come, and Crystal Tokyo was never realized?

The earth's heart within him ached.

_I am not afraid_, he told himself sternly as the heroine onscreen let out a vapid shriek. But it was a lie. More than anything, he wanted to believe he had a destiny. Intellectually, he was too practical to admit it, for that would pose a serious threat to his concept of free will; but the romantic battling inside of him desperately wished that all of this happened for a reason – that he had lost his family, and endured all those years alone, completely alone, and been tortured by those images of his Lady until he could have driven his head through the wall, and already defeated two previous threats to the world all for some greater purpose. He needed a culmination, a climax, some huge mounting explosion of glory that would shine light upon everything that had happened. He _needed _it.

Or perhaps he was a coward, and only wanted it because he didn't want to suffer.

A knock thudded from his door. Not really in the mood to socialize, he hoped it wasn't Motoki.

"Mamo-chan!"

Usako. Half of him ached for her as soon as he heard her voice, wanting to hold her and hear her tell him that everything would be alright; and the other half cowered in shame and guilt and a desire to be left alone. The two sides battled briefly, and before he knew who had won, he was at the door, unlocking the latch.

Usagi stood there before him, as radiant and cheery as ever, a thousand secrets dancing just behind her sky-colored eyes. "I brought someone to see you," she said, fighting back a brilliant smile.

He looked around in confusion and suddenly a pink streak flew at his legs and clung to him mercilessly. "_Mamo-chan!" _

His jaw dropped. "_Chibiusa?"_

Her bright red eyes blazed up at him with all the intensity and adoration he'd missed so dearly. "I came from the future to train as a Sailor Senshi!" she announced.

"Sailor Chibi Moon," Usagi explained softly, her grin now fully captivating her face.

"You've grown," Mamoru announced through the ebbing waves of shock.

"Of course I've grown!" said Chibiusa. "I'm…" She scrunched up her face. "I think Mama said that according to _your _time, I'm eight."

"Not too big, then," Mamoru said, and scooped her up in his arms, tickling her cheek with his nose. "I missed you so much!"

She giggled and hugged him back. "Me, too! I saved Usagi-baka today, did you know? The Daimohn had her in a drum, and she looked so stupid, but I attacked it." She beamed at him. "I have my _own attack_."

"Yeah, it's very powerful," said Usagi sarcastically.

Mamoru grinned at Usagi through Chibiusa's hair. "You two have gotten off on the wrong foot once again? Well, I'm glad too many things haven't changed."

"She's not careful at _all_!" Chibiusa complained. "She just stands there waiting around before she attacks, it's so _stupid…"_

"_How many times do I have to say I can't attack before the Daimohn is weakened?" _Usagi growled through gritted teeth, her fists balling at her sides.

Mamoru extended an arm and pulled her into the embrace. "Shut up, you two," he said cheerfully. "Let me enjoy the moment."

"But I'm hungry," Chibiusa whined as Usagi nuzzled into his shoulder. "Mamo-chan, can you make me pancakes?"

"If you convince Usagi to persuade me," he replied, feeling rather cheeky.

Chibiusa gazed at him cross-eyed, one of her nostrils raised in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Usagi's hand slipped up to his neck, and she pulled him down, quickly pressing her lips against his. "I think he means that," she said, her eyes sparkling.

_Damn_, her smile was gorgeous today. He grinned back at her like he had lost his mind – which, he reminded himself, he probably had.

"Oh, gross." Chibiusa wriggled out of Mamoru's arms and pattered into his apartment. "Come on, Luna-P! We haven't been here forever!" She whirled around. "And I still want pancakes, Mamo-chan!"

Mamoru chuckled as Luna-P zooped after Chibiusa. "I forgot about that thing," he admitted.

Usagi just grabbed onto his arm and they followed after Chibiusa. He felt kind of warm and bubbly. He felt like a walking cliché. And he didn't care, because he wasn't afraid anymore. He didn't need to be.

* * *

Meh. So as far as fluff goes, it could have been better. Sorry about that. I'll give it a bit more effort next time.

Thanks for reading!


	16. Strippers

Chapter 15

Episode 104

Recap: The most awkward episode I have ever watched. Ever. Just – there are no words. Except that Chibiusa's back and she and Usagi constantly make scenes in public and you just want to slam your head into the wall and laugh raucously on the floor at the same time. And there is way. Too. Much. Stripping.

I pulled one of those accidentally-screwing-up-the-next-episode's-plot things because Chibiusa sees Mamoru for the first time since she's arrived in this episode, and it's very different from how I had it happen last chapter – but I think it was a little understated in the anime, so I'm not too concerned.

Also, can I just say that Eugeal (the professor's new minion) is _infinitely _more awesome than Kaolinite. She drives like a maniac and runs over things and has epic hair. *Fist pump!*

So this one's on crack because I got four hours of sleep last night. Very sorry.

* * *

Usagi returned from the bathroom with her contemplative face on; Mamoru knew that meant trouble. She stopped halfway to the kitchen with her mouth hanging slightly open, her eyes half-focused. Slowly, she said, "I was thinking…"

He gasped and clutched at his chest, as if having some mild death spasm. "You were _what?"_

Frozen for a moment, she seemed completely torn between an indignant fury and an undeniable amusement; her face literally wobbled in limbo. Finally she let out a cackle of laughter. "You're such a jerk, Mamo-chan."

"What were you thinking, Usako?" he continued, extra sweetly, as if nothing had happened.

Her lips pursed themselves, seemingly of their own accord. "You're always meaner to me when you get to fight Daimohns. When you don't you sulk, and when you do, you make fun of me." She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"_That's _what you were thinking that whole time?" he asked mildly, trying to repress a smirk. It was rather difficult.

"_No-o_," she groaned, collapsing into the seat across from him in exasperation. "What I was thinking was, that Daimohn was about to strip for us, wasn't it?"

He snorted violently, his eyes boring into the polished wood tabletop. "It certainly did seem that way, didn't it?"

"'You shall be surprised at how I truly entertain'," Usagi quoted in her growly youma voice. "What a pervert!"

"Poor Chibiusa," Mamoru said delicately. "People have been stripping in front of her left and right. I'm sure Neo Queen Serenity didn't send her back in time to be exposed to such atrocities."

"Then again, she _is_ nine hundred years old." Usagi rested her head in her hands, gazing dreamily at the wall. "So she's had plenty of time to be exposed to that sort of thing."

Mamoru bit down hard on his lips as he caught her eye; bright blue glimmered in a mixture of genuine distress and a distinct battle not to burst into laughter.

Which, of course, ended up happening, with Usagi's arms sprawled across the table and Mamoru gripping his hair, practically prepared to rip it out by the roots as their chests heaved and Usagi's eyes began to water.

"We're perverts too!" she gasped, swiping the back of her hand at her dripping eyes.

"Oh, no, we're not," he insisted, grinning widely. "We're as innocent as they come. _You_ wouldn't even play strip poker with me."

She cawed in response, her cheek pressed into the table as she looked at him sideways. "That's because I have something called _class_, Mamoru-baka. Not that _you _would know about that."

"I wear a goddamn tuxedo at least once a week!" he returned hotly. "If that's not class then what is?"

Her face pinched up in frustration. "Something called virtue, then, _Kamen-chan_."

He flinched involuntarily at the ghastly moniker, but that wasn't enough to distract him from what she was implying. "What do you mean, virtue?"

"Well…" She turned an impressive shade of crimson. "I mean… you're a college student, Mamoru, I just assumed that you… well… I mean, someone like you, someone as _attractive_ as you, at your age –"

"I'M A VIRGIN," he said loudly. He was never a fan of beating around the bush.

"Oh." She wouldn't look at him. He rolled his eyes.

"You can stop blushing, Usako. I suppose I can't be too surprised with you, for assuming something like that, but I've been a little too preoccupied with visions about _you _for my entire damn life to really spend a lot of time… otherwise engaged."

Her complexion faded from that dashing crimson hue to a pleasurable pink. "Oh," she repeated.

Amused, he leaned his arms on the table and gazed at her placidly. "Why are you so embarrassed?"

"I just – I should have known," she muttered, avoiding his blatant stare. "It's you, of course you would – but it's hard to imagine you _not_ – just because – it's _you_, and…"

He chuckled as her eyes slid down his chest. "Should I be flattered?"

"I guess so." She grimaced. "But don't let it get to your head, Cape Boy. We know you already think you're pretty hot."

"You just told me I have every reason to believe that I am," he reminded her.

"Well that's why I'm warning you. You're already enough of a jerk."

"I'm not _that _much of a jerk."

"You _are!_ Do you even remember the first thing you ever said to me? You _mercilessly mocked my test scores!"_

"Well, come on, Odangos, no one gets a thirty percent, or whatever it was…"

"It wasn't a thirty percent!" she screeched, rising out of her chair. Her face clouded for a moment as she contemplated the possibility. "Was it?"

He shrugged. "Beats me. But just warning you, if I'm a jerk, then you're absolutely a hypocrite."

She bristled like a defensive porcupine. He shook himself to clear the image from his head; he really needed to get more sleep. "How so?" she demanded.

"First you're telling me how damn gorgeous I am – "

"I did _not _say that, baka!"

"- and the next moment you're telling me not to take it too seriously. _Plus_," he pressed on, before she could cut him off again (he was rather enjoying himself), "you were so torn up when Chibiusa left, and now all you can do is fight with her."

Deadened eyes bored into his; it was a scary sight. "Mamoru-baka," she growled. "You are a _jerk _on days when you fight." She tossed her pigtails. "Besides, she can't quit provoking me. She flirts with you too much."

"She's only eight years old!" he cried, exasperated.

"Nine hundred," Usagi corrected him.

He chortled. "Oh right. Far too old to be scathed by strippers."

Then she was laughing again, and he took that to mean he was forgiven, though perhaps he ought to rein in the provocations just a bit. As much as he teased her –

"I know you just love me, Mamo-chan," she said, leaning across the table to kiss his forehead.

How did she manage to read his mind like that? "You're too good for me, you know that?" he asked her wryly.

Smiling wanly, she headed toward the door. "Oh, I know, baka. I know."

* * *

Hey, a crack episode deserves a crackfic. There's my Excuse of the Day (EotD? Yay abbreviations?).

For reading this one, I seriously owe you my soul. Thanks for sticking with me. (: Tomorrow's will be better, I promise..


	17. Center of Gravity

Episode 105

Recap: Makoto's been having trouble fighting, so she goes to train in the mountains. She takes herself very seriously, but a monk there, Kakusui-san, teaches her that relaxing and working with other people can sometimes get you further than your own raw power. So then Makoto beats a Daimohn BY HERSELF (yep, Usagi does _nothing!) _which is pretty sweet. Also, Usagi tries to meet up with Mamoru, who has a summer job at a nearby hotel. It doesn't work out, of course, but perhaps this will… *mysterious music*

Alright, so I'm cheating a little. This takes place after the Daimohn battle but before the girls go back home. Kapeesh?

* * *

"Usagi!" said Ami sternly. "Geometry is _not_ spelled M-a-m-o-r-u!"

"How _is _geometry spelled?" Minako mused thoughtfully, gnawing on the end of her pencil.

"Don't do that," Rei snapped, yanking the pencil out of Mina's mouth. "You'll ruin your teeth."

"And then you'll have to go to the _dentist!" _Usagi cried in horror. "And they might have to do surgery, and they might hurt you!" There was _nothing _more terrifying than a dentist armed with sharp, shiny, silver tools. Absolutely nothing. She'd take Eugeal and her Daimohns any day of the week.

"And the Pythagorean Theorem has nothing to do with Tuxedo Kamen and these stupid little hearts!" Ami continued, her cheeks flushed with impatience as she bent over Usagi's work. The pages were covered with doodles of Mamoru's various aliases, many squiggles, and the occasional sketch of a poorly-drawn right triangle.

"Ami-_cha-an_," Usagi wailed. "It's not fair! You know I don't get this math stuff, and I'm too distracted! I can't see my Mamo-chan and know he's so close without going on a date!"

"You can do this, Usagi-chan," Ami insisted, shoving her notebook under Usagi's nose. "Look, it's really not complicated. I know it seems abstract when it's just written A squared plus B squared equals C squared, but all you have to do is apply that to the problems. If you just draw out your triangle…" She made a quick, precise sketch and labeled the sides with their corresponding measures of 7 and 12. "See, now you know that the hypotenuse, the side directly across from the right angle, is C. So you square 7 and square 12 and add those, and then take the square root."

Usagi gazed at her blankly. "Hm?"

"U-SA-GI!" Rei shrieked, cuffing the blonde on the head. "You need to snap out of it! You're a fantastic daydreamer, but you need to stop putting up the stupid charade. _We know you're not dumb. _You're just lazy and it's going to catch up with you. It's the studying you do now that will determine whether Neo Queen Serenity can write in kanji or not, isn't it?"

Usagi blushed deep red while Minako laughed. "I'm not _pretending to be stupid_, Rei-baka, I'm just thinking…"

"About Mamoru, I know. And wouldn't he be proud to hear that instead of mooning over him, you were learning very basic geometry that you should already know?"

Usagi's lower lip quivered. "That's not a very nice way to say that, Rei-chan…"

Minako laughed suddenly. "That was funny! 'Mooning over him,' get it, because Usagi-chan is the Moon Princess?" She looked around excitedly at the other girls.

"Yes," said Rei gruffly, "I get it. Very funny."

Minako shrugged one shoulder loftily and went back to her work. "Ami-chan, what's the square root of 169?"

"While Minako, on the other hand, really _is _dumb…" a certain ebony-haired girl muttered.

Minako smacked Rei on the back of the head with her notebook. "I am _not!_"

"You always say mean things, Rei," Usagi piped up in Minako's defense. "And the square root of 169 is 13."

"Finally," Rei groaned. "She admits she knows something."

"And that's _all there is to it_," Ami said. "Now, applying it to this proof, you know that the measures of the legs have to be shorter than –"

"Usagi-chan!" Makoto stuck her head into the room, dripping with sweat in her training clothes. "You've got someone here to see you!"

"Hm?" Usagi looked up, her brow furrowed. "But I…" Comprehension dawned with a zesty vigor on her face. "Mamo-chan!"

Makoto grinned as Usagi raced past her, through the door, and down the steps to the landing where the shrine opened out onto its wide, stone-covered landscape, surrounded by a quick plunge into forested mountains. A tall, dark-haired man (or was he still a boy? The debate was endless in her mind) stood by the edge of the stone platform; his figure cast a long shadow into the twilight-tainted trees.

"Mamo-chan!" she repeated, her pigtails flying as she zoomed straight into his back, her arms wrapping tight around his middle. "You came to see me!"

He flinched at her sudden attack but quickly pried her arms off of him, turning to face her. "I had to return the gesture," he said; the fiery sunset caught suddenly in the glint of his sapphire eyes, and her stomach rolled like a jellyfish. "You came to see me, didn't you? Very subtly, at that." He snickered and put on a high posh voice. "'Oh, Mamoru, imagine seeing _you_ here, of all places!'"

"I did _not _sound like that!" She pushed her fist toward his stomach.

Like lightning, he deflected the halfhearted punch and cupped her cheek, kissing her quickly. "I've missed you," he said. "No one's run into me in days except the receptionist, and he's fifty years old. Without odangos."

The image of a middle-aged man _with _blonde odangos flew into Usagi's head, and she giggled. "Poor deprived you."

"Absolutely. My center of gravity is so _normal _when you're not around, it's driving me crazy."

"So you like to be thrown off guard," she suggested cheekily, biting her lower lip.

"Sure," he agreed with a twisted smile that made the stomach jellyfish flop again. "It's exciting."

"Before you flirt too much," Makoto's voice said firmly from behind, "I have two messages. One is from Ami and Rei, who want you to know that you _do _have plenty of studying to get done so don't take too long, and the other is from me, and it's 'Don't shoot the messenger'."

Usagi glanced over her shoulder to scowl at Makoto, who was stretching her thighs, with one hand balanced against the stair wall. "You can tell _them _to keep their noses out of my business," she replied huffily.

"Don't you glare at me either, Usa. If you care so much, tell them yourself." She swung her arms behind her experimentally. "I've got to keep going. Ja." And she sped off down the pyramid of steps, bounding in huge leaps over clusters of three or four at a time.

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?" asked Usagi, anxiety leaking into her voice, as they watched Makoto disappear down the rocky path beyond the stairs. "To jump down the stairs like that?"

"No," Mamoru scoffed. "Easy."

"Says _Tuxedo Kamen." _She paused. "_Chan_."

"Usako! Do you _mind _with that?"

"Oh, sorry, Tuxedo Kamen-_sama." _

"That's just as bad," he complained, his eyebrows tilting fretfully. "Chibiusa actually _means _it whenever I show up, she doesn't even realize you're making fun of her…"

She shuffled her feet in discomfort. "Well, sometimes in the heat of the moment…"

"Ha! You really mean it, too, don't you? I _knew _it." The triumph in his voice was sickening.

Usagi's eyes narrowed. "Mamo-chan," she grumbled. "Maybe you should go back to work."

He checked his watch quickly. "Actually, I have another shift starting up soon. I just wanted to come by and say hi."

"And make fun of me," she added, still wounded.

"What would be the point of coming if I didn't?" He gave her a bright grin. "What else would we say, anyway? 'Hi, Usako, I love you, your hair is luminescent like the sunset, your eyes are bright as cornflowers' and so on and so forth… How boring is that?"

"I don't know." She scowled. "Sounded pretty nice to me."

"Says the one who can't stop calling me Kamen-chan."

"Because it's _a-dor-a-ble_!"

"If by that you mean _re-pug-nant_, than yes, by all means, it is. Look, you try saying something non-argumentative and see how it goes for you."

She stared up into his glinting blue eyes and found herself rather at a loss for what to say. "Oh, fine, baka. You win this time."

"She admits victory!" he cried to the open air. "The stars have aligned!"

"Mamo-chan…" she muttered, slightly put off. "You're so _weird_."

"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" he mocked dramatically in response, and she barreled a successful punch straight into his gut. He only smirked. "Abdomen made of steel, Usako."

"That's Superman, baka."

"I could probably take him on, don't you think?"

"Mamoru," she groaned. "You came all the way over here to talk about Superman? And you wouldn't stand a chance against him."

"You're the one who brought it up. And you're probably right. I don't have laser vision."

She gazed up at him with the iciest eyes she could muster. "Maybe you should stay at this job all summer. It'll save me a lot of trouble."

"But what about my center of gravity?" he reminded her. "It would be so _average_."

"That's true," she sighed. "I guess you need me."

"USAGI!" It wasn't Rei's tone that made her recognizable, exactly, so much as the general fury she emanated. "WE DO HAVE _WORK _TO DO! ENOUGH MAKING OUT!"

Mamoru looked down at her with wide puppy eyes. She melted only slightly. "We haven't even done that yet," he said sadly.

They had a brief stare down, each daring the other to instigate such a task. It ended when he gave in, leaned down, and kissed her slowly – a single, gentle caress that he managed to draw out over a good few seconds. Usagi's jellyfish grew rather weak-kneed, but then she remembered jellyfish didn't even have knees. If Rei could have read her mind, she would have yelled about that for one reason or another.

"How's your center of gravity?" Mamoru rested his forehead on hers; his eyes were so close, swelling dark and gorgeous right before her, that she could practically feel his lashes mingling with her own.

If she admitted that it was rather unsteady, she would feel like a complete wimp. But it was true, so she said it. Truth slipped out of her easily when she was around Mamoru, whether she liked it or not.

"Well," he conceded, "yours is always off, isn't it?"

"Usually," she admitted, though grudgingly.

"I've got to go," he said, his forehead not leaving hers.

"Me, too. Rei's going to yell."

Neither of them budged.

"USAGI!"

She sighed, but perked up abruptly with a sudden idea. "Mamo-chan, do you think that you and I, transformed, could take the three of them?"

He laughed, his fingers twisting around her hair. "Hard to say. I bet they have forums online where people analyze that sort of thing."

"Really?" Her eyebrows rose. "People know that much about us?"

"You'd be surprised." He pressed his lips into her forehead and pulled away with a wink. "I'll come pick you up soon as I get home, alright?"

"Okay," she said, trying not to pout. She clung to his fingers as he moved back.

"And until then, make sure you only bulldoze really ugly guys." His eyes were glimmering with humor and a tint of sincerity.

"I'll try," she said, equally as frank. He laughed, kissed her hand, and released her. "Ja ne, Usako!"

He made a perfect silhouette, sauntering into the growing darkness, one hand resting on his thigh, the other casually draped in his pocket.

"How's your center of gravity?" she mimicked him, unable to resist.

"Ridiculously normal!" he called over his shoulder. "I won't be able to stand it!" A spurt of laughter burst out of him when he realized his pun.

"I love you, Mamo-chan," she said quietly, as he disappeared into the dusk. Then, with a girlish giggle, she hopped back up the stairs and rejoined her friends.

"Took you long enough," Rei said shortly. "Ami's practically finished the book."

The blush on Ami's face was enough to tell Usagi that it wasn't far from true. "Sorry. He wouldn't shut up." She sat down next to Ami and pulled the problems onto her lap. "So what were you saying about this proof, Ami-chan?"

* * *

I feel like I should have some sort of comment or apology or whatever to put in here, but my mind is blank. Eh... sorry? :\

Thanks for reading! And special thanks to my dutiful reviewers! I owe you my sanity (or whatever's left of it). :)


	18. Apple Pie

Recap 106

This one's all about Haruka and Michiru's past. Very interesting, but irrelevant to this fic. It's memorable, I think, so I recommend watching it.

That's kind of all.

* * *

Episode 107

Recap: Chibiusa has a crush on Masanori-kun, a fellow student at her art class which Michiru teaches. She bakes him an apple pie, but Usagi unwittingly serves it to her friends. Chibiusa is jealous of Michiru, to whom Masanori declares his "passionate love." Then his pure heart is targeted, and in the haze of the moment, Masanori sees Chibiusa running off to transform, and calls her _his angel! Oh the romance! _And then Uranus/Neptune/Moon/(Chibi Moon who doesn't do anything oh did I say that I mean what) whoop up on a weird half-naked Daimohn who makes clay monsters out of dirt. The end.

Warning: Major fluff awaits you. As in, not an overlook-able amount. Just warning you.

* * *

"Ma-mo-chan." Each syllable was accompanied with a knock.

Rather peevishly, Mamoru slunk over to the door and returned the knocks. "U-sa-ko."

"Let me in," she whined, clearly not amused.

He complied wordlessly; he wasn't much in the mood for her capricious fancies and whims after less than two hours' sleep last night, with even those precious moments plagued by dreams of destruction and silence. Damn college to hell. Damn _premonitions_ to hell. If his alternate-universe-with-alternate-outcomes theory was correct, and Crystal Tokyo was simply one possibility that the multifaceted future could potentially contain, then there very well could be death steadily approaching Earth, and all he was doing about it was studying for his summer courses. If said theory was complete bullshit, then he frankly had no idea how he was going to manage keeping up his scholarship and saving the world simultaneously. Either way, he couldn't really see himself coming out on top.

He realized Usagi was staring at him, and he refocused blearily. "Sorry, Usako – what did you say?"

"I said you look terrible." Her lips formed an unintentional pout. "Do you want me to leave?"

He was on the verge of begging her to get out and let him get some sleep, but then he caught her eye and there was absolutely no question. "No, of course not. What do you need?"

She giggled. "Silly Mamo-chan. I don't just come over because I _need _things, you know. I'm not _that _selfish." Leaning up on her toes, she kissed his lower lip gently. "Well, maybe a little selfish. But that's all I'll demand of you, I swear."

She was teasing him, flirting shamelessly, complete with twinkling eyes and pert little smile, but the quickening of his heart seemed distant and remote through the vague shield of exhaustion. "Then you came over…?" he prompted her.

Her shoulders drooped. "Well, Chibiusa likes this boy Masanori-kun in her art class, so she baked him an apple pie, but I thought it was for everyone, so we ate it, and I promised her I'd make her a new one, and then I thought why not make one for Mamo-chan while I'm at it?" She perked up, her eyes shining hopefully. "So would you mind? I brought all the ingredients." Her arm appeared from behind her back, revealing a plastic bag he hadn't noticed before.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Look, Usako, I've got a ton of work to do…"

"I won't bother you!" she said, straightening before him as if she were reporting for duty. Mamoru could have sworn she saluted him, but that was probably his half-awake brain playing tricks on him.

"Alright," he said half-heartedly. "Alright, come in…"

Quietly, she pattered after him and paused by the wall as he went to plop down heavily by his work again. "You've been dreaming about it again, haven't you?" she said at length.

Distractedly, he massaged his eyelids with a finger. "Yeah." He stared down at the pages in front of him, trying to concentrate, but the numbers blurred together before his eyes. _Focus, dammit, Chiba. This isn't that hard, this part is just basic calculus. You _know _how to do this._

"Rei hasn't," said Usagi, still hovering at the corner of the wall.

He grunted in response, without having really heard her.

"Mamo-chan," she said in what seemed to be half reprimand, half concern. Suddenly she was kneeling by him, raking back his hair to feel at his forehead. "You're not sick, are you?"

He batted her away with his pen. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine, you look like a corpse!"

"I'm talking, aren't I?" he replied sourly.

She clucked her tongue loudly, impatiently. "Why do you always have to do that?"

He groaned and leaned his head against his hands. "Not now, Usako…"

"You have to pretend that everything's alright, all the time, because it would be _so horrible _if somehow you acted _human _and betrayed some sort of weakness!"

Grimacing, he pressed the heels of his hands deeper into his eyes. He didn't want to offend her, but if she kept yelling at him like that – his head was _killing _him – "I said _not now, Usako." _

"_God, _Mamo-chan!" she screeched, her voice cracking; she stamped her foot on the ground, tears spilling from her eyes. "You _always do this! _Is it so horrible for me to – to want to take care of you?"

_Yes_, he thought blandly. _Yes. It is a terrible, horrible thing to care that much_.

"What would you do if it was me?" she demanded shrilly. "If I kept having nightmares about the end of the world, and it was hurting me _so badly_, and I told you it was nothing? If I walked around like I was dead and wouldn't let you even… If there was _clearly _something wrong and I just said, oh no, it's nothing _you_ need to know about, or… or… _eurgh! _It's just so _frustrating!_"

"I think you're overreacting." His voice was rather dull.

"I think you're _under-_reacting."

"Maybe you should leave, Usako."

"Maybe I will!" She stormed toward the door, but reeled around last minute. "You might be good at saving people, _Tuxedo Kamen_, but in the end you're just human, and someday that's going to catch up with you, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe in ten years, but someday, and _then_ where will you be?"

The door slammed shut.

He sat there with his back against the base of the couch, his pen dangling numb from two fingers. Usako sure was eloquent when she was ticked off. Clearly, she had taken his refusal to spill his guts personally, as if she weren't… important enough, or something ridiculous like that. He simply didn't want to give her any reason to worry about him – he knew his limits, and he knew they had been stretched, rather against their will, by twelve or so years of complete withdrawal from emotional exchanges with other human beings. When he hadn't had anyone to run to, he'd learned not to need to run. He'd made himself stronger than that. And now that he had Usagi, she expected him to – to what, knock down those barriers in the bat of an eyelash and pour out his heart? He'd gotten better, since knowing her, at recognizing her intense desire to read into his thoughts, and so he had grown, bit by bit, to accommodate her shared sympathies and joys and grievances; but show weakness when he knew he was stronger than that?

Was that something he was willing to do just to make her feel _wanted_?

Briefly, the consideration that he _was _flailing hit him – but if he did need help, it wasn't like Usako could make him suddenly understand everything his exhausted mind had been too bleary to pick up during his classes. She hardly understood her 9th grade Geometry!

Immediately, a wave of guilt smacked him upside the head. He was being an ass, and he knew it. But no sense of shame, however profound, could make him stand and run after her. He was just too goddamn tired.

* * *

Faintly, he felt something poking his shoulder. A whisper floated through the nebulous mist of his mind: "Mamo-chan?"

At first, he disregarded it, but then remembered: _Oh right. That's me_.

And so, with distinctive difficulty, he woke up.

Before he managed to fully open his eyes, he felt something soft and precious graze his forehead, and the world focused to reveal Usako kneeling in front of him. An ominous, rich golden light scorched through the windows, and he jolted involuntarily.

"Whatimzit?"

"About five," Usagi said.

Internally, he tried to calculate how long he'd been asleep, but he couldn't think, so he stopped. "When's my next class?" he asked, more comprehensibly, running a hand over his face.

She checked the schedule buried under his notes. "Half an hour."

"Shit." He pulled desperately at his blurred eyes, trying to clear his vision, and therefore to vicariously disperse the murkiness out of his head.

"You're not going," said Usagi firmly. "You wouldn't…" She paused on a brief quest for the right word. "You wouldn't _retain_ anything, anyway."

"Usako," he sighed. He wasn't really geared up to fight her in order to get out the door. Plus his ass hurt like hell from crouching on the floor for so long. So clearly, it was a lost cause.

"I mean it, Mamoru." Oh, well. _The_ _full name_. "You are going back to sleep and I'm making you a goddamn apple pie, whether you like it or not."

"You are so _difficult_," he grumbled.

"Just a few hours," she pleaded, grabbing his elbow. "Then you'll have the rest of the night to go over things you don't understand and be ready for tomorrow. _Please_, Mamoru."

Unfortunately for him, it made sense, and sounded downright tempting at that. "Mmh," he said as a means of responding.

She seemed satisfied with that; the hand gripping his elbow yanked him up on rather unsteady knees. All five feet of Usagi towered menacingly a foot below him. She pointed down. "Couch."

He rolled his eyes and collapsed obediently, curling up on his side. "You're kind of scary, Usako," he mumbled.

"Some bakas are very stubborn," she countered pleasantly, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapping it around him. "I _have _to be scary."

It still made him excessively uncomfortable, to be half asleep in someone's presence, while said someone was stroking his hair and pressing another soft and precious kiss to his cheek. But as long as it was Usako, he supposed he could get used to it.

"Sorry I'm a jerk," he muttered indistinctly.

"Sorry I yelled," she replied. Her hand touched his chest in the place where Earth's heart lay within him. "Now you leave him alone," she whispered. "He's had enough of you."

A single chuckle leaked out of him. "Think that'll work?"

"I'll know if it doesn't," she said, once more adopting her threatening tones. "I'm not leaving."

Somehow that made everything seem ten shades lighter; he had a hunch that if Usako was there, he wouldn't dream quite as vividly.

And anyhow, he had apple pie to look forward to once he woke up – providing, of course, that Usagi didn't burn down the entire apartment building in the process of making it.

* * *

Dear holy God, I love getting in Mamoru's head. Sorry for fluffiness. At least I posted. :P

Thank you thank you thanks for reading! (That was kind of a song, if you were wondering.)


	19. Any Other Way

Episode 108

Recap: Mamoru and the girls are invited to this spifferific party hosted by a certain Edwards, an English man who has this European mansion where he brings young people together to socialize and build a "rosy future" and so on and so forth. Usagi freaks out about speaking English and gets drunk (SO. FUNNY.) and the girls thoroughly embarrass themselves (except for Ami-chan, bless her) so a good time is had by all. Then Eugeal and this singing Daimohn appears to collect Edwards' pure heart, and the Senshi deliver an awkward collaborative speech on fairy tale princesses and parties. Great episode. (:

Blame Ms. Roheryn-randomnumbers (aka Vallie-chan) for the repeated references of the Daimohn Octave. But we're not the only ones who think she was hilarious, right? _Right??_

I haven't disclaimed in a while, so here goes: I own my guitar Eilonwy, my very sarcastic pack of OCs, my computer, and the fuzzy hat which I am currently wearing. I do not own Sailor Moon. (ARE YOU SHOCKED? ARE YOU? DO YOU FEEL BETRAYED?)

* * *

This was Mamoru's kind of party.

As much as he seemed to blend in with the high-class world of academia, he didn't enjoy it all that much. Certainly, intelligent conversation could be stimulating and fascinating and engrossing and enrapturing, but the greater-than-thou attitude of intellectuals turned him off almost as much as whipped cream on pie: fluffy, without substance, eager to ruin the natural deliciousness.

He sighed inwardly. It was clear he'd been around Usagi too much if his metaphors were revolving around food.

No, it wasn't the company he craved, nor the dancing (not that he minded holding Usako a bit closer than necessary), nor the exposure to opportunities and English and hope for the future – it was simply that he had never exactly grown out of being that seven-year-old boy who, in a desperate attempt to redefine himself after losing his memories, pretended he was Spider-man almost twenty four hours a day.

And there was something decidedly kick-ass about waltzing around with Kaioh Michiru one moment and shattering a Daimohn's weapon with a steel rose the next as Tuxedo Kamen. Nothing perked Mamoru up quite as much as a _fight_. He supposed that was the feral, barbaric part of him rearing up and abandoning reason, and Usagi had said he got a little too into the battles (and his speeches)... but he simply couldn't help himself. His heart beat with the intoxication of a head-over-heels romantic, and to follow behind the same adrenaline-fused footprints as the pirates and knights and superheroes he had dreamed up over the course of his childhood was like living and breathing pure Glory.

So really, the fact that he felt like he was on Cloud 9 had nothing to do with the gathering whatsoever. But hell, he was loving it.

He looked down at Usako, who was leaning into his chest, almost flawlessly matching his slow footsteps (though occasionally she stumbled or stepped on his toes). Gods preserve him, she was beautiful tonight. All the girls were, really: Ami was in her element, speaking animatedly to Edwards; Rei's cheeks were blazing with passionate excitement; Makoto was lean and easy-going, chatting with a graceful nonchalance to anyone who came by; and Minako, bless her, was being passed from boy to boy around the dance floor. He chuckled into Usagi's hair as he watched the girl who called herself the "goddess of love" flirt shamelessly. Yes, the Senshi were beautiful; but his Usako, who had mostly recovered from her accidental glass of champagne... well, Usako glowed, was all, wherever she walked – bright sunshine from her hair, blue sky in her eyes, and gentle pink clouds billowing out from her skirt. She was like this ethereal breath of pure magic. His Usako. _His_.

"How are you holding up?" he murmured to the top of her head.

She raised her eyes up to him. "Good," she smiled. "I think. I made a complete fool of myself, didn't I?"

He snorted fondly. "It was pretty funny, actually."

"You were _appalled_," she objected, drawing out the word that she seemed to be proud of.

"I had to _act_ appalled," he corrected her. "What kind of a person would I look like if my girlfriend started acting crazy in the middle of a place like this, and I just laughed?"

She pondered this for a moment. "You'd seem insensitive, and… and low class, I suppose." Her eyes narrowed. "I knew it. Chiba Mamoru, the smooth and suave and oh so smart is all just a front, isn't it?"

"We can't _all _throw our reputations to the wind," he countered, smirking.

Usagi growled. "Mamo-chan…"

"I wouldn't have you any other way, Usako," he said patiently. "Don't forget that."

"Eh… but you're so _mean_…" She wrinkled her nose in a hilarious grimace.

"So does being Sailor Moon make alcohol travel really quickly through your system, or what?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "Huh?"

Mamoru snickered. "Well, you went from being completely intoxicated one minute to battling that Daimohn the next to being more or less coherent right now. It was all kind of abrupt."

Pensively, she gnawed on her lip. "Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged. "Well, I'm fine now, I think."

He adopted a thoughtful expression. "It makes me wonder which one of us used to win at drinking games."

Her jaw dropped. "Mamo-chan…?"

"What, you don't think we used to play drinking games? As Serenity and Endymion?" His grin expanded as her look of shock only intensified. "Who knows, maybe all lunar inhabitants had the same reaction to alcohol that you do. So I would slowly get wasted while you would be completely dead one second and then fine the next. It makes me wonder who would win."

"Mamo-chan," Usagi muttered. "You're so _weird_."

"You're not curious?" He feigned complete astonishment.

"You'd better watch what you say," was her grave reply. "I might wander over to your _friends_ and tell them how much of a pervert you are when they're not around."

"And I might remind them how this isn't the first time you've been drunk," he returned cheerfully.

She flushed bright red. "That was an accident too!"

"You seem to have a lot of accidents, then."

"TWO, you baka!"

"Alright, just don't become an alcoholic."

She stomped – intentionally, this time – on his foot. "Why are you always so _mean?" _

He just smiled in response. "I have a way to make it up to you, though."

Suspicious, she glowered at him. "What's that?"

"It's a theory I've got." He leaned down close to her ear. "I think that Daimohn we just fought was Octave's cousin."

She burst into peals of laughter against him, and he slowly cascaded into equivalent chuckles. "Oc-ta-ve," she choked.

"People are staring," he whispered through chortles.

"Guess you'll have to give up on your reputation," she said, still giggling madly.

"Having fun, eh, odango atama?"

Usagi's head whirled over her shoulder. "Haruka-san! Michiru-san!"

The two handsome girls glided closer to Mamoru and Usagi with the greatest of ease. Mamoru noticed Makoto and Rei eyeing the pair and muttering.

"I'd watch out," he told them. "I think you have assassins on your tail."

They turned and spotted the younger Senshi, who quickly averted their eyes. "Oh dear," said Michiru, her soft aqua eyes sparkling with gentle humor. "I've had to contend for Haruka all night. It seems it will never end."

"I would dance with your friends in a heartbeat, odango," said Haruka, "but Michiru here is just too jealous to let me go."

Michiru smiled wanly. "And you weren't at all, when I danced with Mamoru-san?"

Haruka pursed her lips. "Maybe I _will _dance with Mako-chan, after all."

"That sounds fine," said Michiru lightly. "I'll go speak with those tall boys over there while you dance." She glided off, leaving Haruka to grind her teeth together as the song ended.

"Michiru is hard to win against," she sighed to Mamoru and Usagi. "She's crafty."

"But at least she's musically talented," Mamoru said. "She could sing operatically one day, perhaps."

Usagi stepped on his foot again as another fit of giggles burst out of her mouth. "Mamo-chan, _stop!" _she hissed.

Haruka raised one eyebrow but didn't inquire after the joke. "I guess I'll go dance with Makoto, then," she said, watching Michiru join in a conversation with a circle of young men.

"Make sure Mako-chan doesn't fall for you again," Usagi said quietly, and Mamoru laughed loudly.

Haruka grinned as she made to leave. "You know, Mamoru-san, for someone who seems so composed from afar…"

"He's absolutely crazy?" Usagi interrupted. "I've noticed that, too. But don't worry," she said, smiling widely, "I wouldn't have him any other way."

* * *

Short 'n cheesy, huh? Eh, I figured you'll forgive me. ;) It's my second post today, remember? Of course, that doesn't make up for a six-day gap, but... we'll just keep that to ourselves, shall we?

Hehehe. This is what happens when SB (am I allowed to abbreviate my own name?) gets into Mamoru's head too much. Large blocks of text. Too little dialogue. In my opinion, that is; I'm a dialogue freak.

Anyhoo... thanks for reaaading! (: (OC-TAAAAAA-VE!!)


	20. Parking Ticket

Hey, everybody! Long time, no update! I'm very sorry about that. :( Mamoru and Usagi just got a little worn out for me, and I didn't want to force something boring and uninspired on you - you deserve better. :) Thanks for your patience!

Episode 109

Recap: Minako is depressed because her pure heart hasn't been targeted, so she runs around donating blood everywhere she can to purify herself up (gotta love that logic?). Eugeal does end up targeting her, but Minako runs away with her pure heart (while cackling maniacally, I might add) and she ends up trapping Eugeal, Usagi, Haruka, Michiru, herself, and a Daimohn in a parking garage. Usagi, Michiru, and Haruka are forced to reveal their identities and transform to fight. Usagi's attack and Eugeal's fire buster thing meet head-on, but Usagi still manages to destroy the Daimohn. Then there's a lot of "They're _who?" _"Haruka-san?" "Michiru-san!" when the other Senshi show up. The end.

* * *

He had fully mastered the art of exiting his classes only minutes before they concluded in order to avoid certain overzealous females who tended to "gravitate" in his direction. It was only natural, then, that he jumped a little when he saw a blonde girl sitting on the bench just outside the building. Girls could be downright terrifying when they wanted to be.

Leaning his shoulder into the door, he squinted. "Usako?"

Her head turned as soon as she heard the door click open, and she jumped up, waving, when she saw him. "Mamoru!" she called out unnecessarily.

He slung his bag more securely over his shoulder and slunk over to her. "You know my schedule?" he asked skeptically, incredulously.

Her face flushed rosy pink. "Mamo-chan, I was right."

His eyebrows rose of their own accord.

She quickly scanned the area for bystanders and leaned up on her toes to whisper, "Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune! I – was – _right!" _

"Haruka?" he mouthed. "Michiru?"

She nodded.

He stared at her for a moment, feeling the questions rise behind his eyes, seeing the answers hidden in her own. The door creaked open behind them, making them both jump as a small stream of students trickled into the humid summer evening. "Maybe we should –" Usagi began. But he was a step ahead of her, already heading off toward his car, and she had to break into a jog to catch up with his significantly longer legs. She trailed behind him as he cut through the grass to the tiny, packed students' lot, where he had managed to squeeze his car just next to the curb.

Usagi frowned, noting that she couldn't get in on the passenger's side. "Mamoru, this isn't really a _space_."

"Mm," said Mamoru, smiling placidly. "Well, I happen to be a step ahead of the police. Do you see a ticket?"

Her lower lip jutted out. "No, but – "

"In fact," he interrupted, unlocking the car door, "I have a strong feeling that if I'd waited around for another, say, two minutes, I might very well have a fine to pay." He tried to bite back a smirk, but it was proving difficult. "Wait there."

She backed obediently onto the grass as he inched the car out of the extremely tight parking job. Rolling down the passenger's window, he grinned at her. "Get in the car, Tsukino-san. You have a lot of explaining to do."

She bounded onto the pavement and cracked the door open before slipping into her seat. Brightly, she smiled up at him, and he felt rather cowed at the pure, undiluted sunlight that poured from her very skin. "Hi, Mamo-chan," she said cheekily.

"Hi, Usako." He jerked down on the gas and whizzed out of the lot, dodging other students as Usagi yelped and clutched at her seat belt.

"Mamoru-ba_kaaa!_ Give me a little warning next time!" She glanced over her shoulder at the pair of girls who were glaring daggers at Mamoru's rear tires. "I don't think those girls will forgive you anytime soon."

"They're used to it," he replied smugly. "Chiba Mamoru, scourge of the underworld."

"You pride yourself on that, don't you?" Usagi scowled.

His grin widened. "Absolutely. Oh, look who decided to show up after all." He nodded politely to the police car currently entering the parking lot before he pulled out onto the road.

Usagi groaned in sheer disgust. "You are _despicable."_

"Is it my fault I'm so accurate?" he asked mildly.

"You're so damn _stuck up _about it, though! It's – it's…" She took one of her distinctive pauses, in an attempt to utilize her reluctantly growing vocabulary. "Insufferable! Anyway, since when could you see the future?"

He shot her a deadened look.

Usagi flapped her hand impatiently. "Okay, but I mean trivial things like parking tickets! Last time I checked you didn't dream about those."

"Maybe I did. Maybe the perfect timing appeared to me in a dream, so I knew exactly where and for how long I could park."

"Ba_kaaa!" _

"I've been branching out," he deadpanned finally.

Her eyebrows twitched, rabbit-like. "You have?"

"Turns out that if you don't test your powers, they don't expand." He looked at her pointedly.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"Not mocking, exactly. Just saying that you ought to know."

"I didn't know psychic powers worked that way."

"Well, don't we learn something new every day?"

She growled, deep in her throat, and scrunched down in her seat. "You're such a jerk."

"And proud of it. Now how the hell did you find out about Uranus and Neptune?"

She massaged at her eyes. "Minako."

Well _that _was the last thing he was expecting. "_Minako?"_

"I already told you about how much she wanted a pure heart, and Eugeal came after her today."

He stared, open-mouthed, at the road. "Then why didn't I sense that?"

"Too busy focusing on parking tickets?" Usagi suggested.

He scratched his nose idly. "Yeah, maybe. Alright, so you defeated the Daimohn, and then – "

"_No_. Minako took her heart and ran."

"She did _what?"_

"Don't crash the car, baka! I said, she took her heart and ran from Eugeal, and I followed her!"

"But – you can't just _run _with your own pure heart!"

"Minako can," Usagi said dully. "But then I got cornered in a parking garage with Eugeal and Mina, and suddenly Michiru-san and Haruka-san showed up, and I was thinking, 'Why would they be here unless they were Uranus and Neptune', you know? And then I had to transform, I _had _to, and they did too, and that was that."

"OH!" Mamoru yelled suddenly, his foot jerking on the gas pedal. Usagi screamed and gripped her seat in pure terror as the car lurched forward for a moment.

"_God_, you baka, what the _hell was that about?"_

"Sorry," he said quickly, running his tongue over his lips. "You know that wall we were talking about before – the one that keeps you from realizing who everyone is? It just clicked. So I see it now. Wow. It _is _obvious, isn't it? Doesn't that kill you? I mean who the hell else has hair the color of Michiru-san's?"

She was quivering all over. "I won't get behind the wheel until I'm thirty, and it'll be all your fault," she said through gritted teeth.

He chuckled. "I thought you were the adventurous type."

"Adventurous does not mean 'enjoys near-death experiences', alright?"

He had to hand that one to her. "Still, if we crashed, I bet they could bring you back to life three times over, what with all the blood Minako's been donating."

Usagi grinned. And laughed. And laughed, and laughed, until she was gasping for air. "Why is she so _crazy?"_

He loved seeing her like this – completely off the wall, out of control, hysterical. It lit up her eyes with a thousand different colors he never saw at any other time. "Minako is a special type of person," he replied seriously. "A very _particular _strain of pure heart." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "So Eugeal knows who you are now?"

"Yeah," said Usagi, suddenly sober. "Yeah, I guess so." Defiantly, she stared out the window. "It doesn't matter. We'll defeat her, anyway."

He was far too vain to say anything close to 'That's my girl,' but he couldn't help thinking it, just a little. And what was so wrong with that, anyway? She _was _his, wasn't she?

She glanced sidelong at him and grinned another bright smile, and he knew that yes, she was. He simply wouldn't _allow _anyone else to have her.

"But maybe, Mamo-chan," she said, "you could focus less on _evading_ police, and more on whether Eugeal's about to slit my throat."

He shuddered slightly at the thought, almost missing how she sat up straighter after the usage of the word 'evade'. Lord, she was adorable. "Funny. Usually _I'm _the cynic."

"I know."

"That might not be a bad idea, though."

She brightened visibly. "I know that, too."

"Hey, Usako?"

"Yeah?"

His hand twitched towards hers, but instead he cleared his throat. "Sorry I almost crashed."

"Twice," she said, cheerfully. "That's okay. If we were dead, I might be a little angrier."

He nodded, the very image of solemnity. "I'll keep that in mind."

"And Mamoru?"

"Hm?"

She reached out and snatched his hand possessively from the steering wheel. "I thought you were all through with being shy."

He grinned as her fingers intertwined with his. "Can't really help it, Tsukino-san. Sorry."

Usagi harrumphed a little. "And all those girls mistake that for _politeness_? _Gentleman_-li…ness? You know, if that's a word?"

"Which it's not."

"Shut up, baka."

"Maybe I just put up a good act."

"Maybe they're all just deluding themselves."

"Agreed," he said darkly. "It's not my fault I'm so wickedly handsome."

She snatched her fingers back, irritated. "You are _so _stuck _up!"_

"U-sa-ko," he sighed. "I'm jok-ing."

She stuck her nose in the air.

Surreptitiously, he slid his hand over to her knee and let it rest there.

She settled her fingers over his, rather grudgingly. "Baka," she said fondly.

He laughed.

* * *

Crazy enough for you? :P

Thanks for reading! Extra thanks for reviewing!!


	21. Mamoru's Pure Heart

Hello, all! We return at the brink of episode 110 to install a NON-CANON (gasp), **LunaV-chan**-inspired chapter (see chapter title). Yep, that's right. Thanks **LunaV-chan** for the awesome idea! Hope you enjoy!

Warning: There is much cheesiness awaiting you. Be armed, men. Be armed. (I mean that in a totally non-sexist way.)

Disclaimer: Mamoru-kun and his peculiar but pure heart do not belong to me.

* * *

The telephone rang.

Eugeal's fingers snatched out and settled it under her chin so quickly that she barely had to stop typing. "Witches Five."

"Eugeal." The Professor's voice, of course. Her eyes narrowed; her fingers flew. "Have you found the next target?"

She punched "Enter." She waited for a thousandth of a second; it seemed like eternity before the young man's picture appeared on her screen. "Yes, sir. I'll send you the information right away." A few more jabs at the keyboard and her findings zoomed through cyberspace. She expected the Professor to cackle with glee and assure her that he could indeed design a Daimohn for the target, but instead heard only a crackling silence. "Professor?"

"This target is different," said the Professor slowly. "He is not as pure and simple as the other targets have been."

"Perhaps there is a chance that a talisman lies in the heart of someone more complex," Eugeal suggested.

"What I think," said the Professor, "what I think, Eugeal, is that you're going out on a limb because you're getting desperate. I'm not going to risk losing another Daimohn for this."

"But what about the Sailor Senshi?" Eugeal demanded.

"You've escaped them before," said the Professor, a grim smile lurking in his voice. "I daresay you can do it again."

"But Professor – "

"I'm growing impatient, Eugeal."

She steadied herself with a deep breath. "I'm not Kaolinite, Professor. I won't fail you. But -"

"But?"

"But just in case, Professor – I'm making some new equipment. _Fail proof_ equipment."

"Eugeal." A reprimand.

"Either way," she said, "I'll get the talismans. Isn't it better to have two tactics, so there's no chance of being wrong?"

"If there is a chance of being wrong, I will not let you waste another of my Daimohn."

"Yes, sir."

And so she was left to face the target – and more importantly, the Senshi – on her own. Well, she was not Kaolinite, and if she had to prove herself this way, then so be it.

* * *

He woke without knowing why, which was unusual for him; he was used to bolting upright in bed, or almost rolling onto the floor, at the mercy of another prophetic dream. Today, however, he simply opened his eyes and squinted at the sun crawling across his face. His arm lifted instinctively to shield his face from the light, and he managed to read the clock. 11:16. Exhaling, he ran his hands languidly down his face. Thank God it was Saturday.

Turning onto his side, he lay there for countless minutes. He had always hated waking up. His dreams before Tuxedo Kamen had been of lustful adventure and adrenaline and romance and – love. No smoldering passion, no innuendo, no nuances, and nothing remotely sexual – not even actively lov_ing_, but simply _being _loved: a soft and subtle cloud of quiet bliss, of serenity… Serenity…

Groaning, he rolled onto his face. He _ached _for her. He had always ached for her, and that was why he had hated to awaken from his dreams of her… but he didn't dream of her anymore. He _had _her now.

So what was this painful, tugging nostalgia, this deadened yearning that snaked heavily through his system? Had he grown to need her so badly that just taking a breath without her by his side was painful? Was he so far gone that waking up, even from nightmares, wasn't worth it if she wasn't sleeping next to him in the mornings? Ridiculous. He hadn't felt anything this intensely since… since… since a long time ago.

He breathed and let the feeling slowly flicker and extinguish within him. If he'd awakened panting, gasping, horrified, he would have been able to blame his revved-up emotions. But this was so sudden, so unforeseen, so… _potent_. He felt verily and irrefutably alone.

She weakened him to the point where he pined pathetically for her; and yet he knew he was stronger than he had ever been before because she was with him now. She was, in and of herself, a convoluted paradox that somehow wrote itself out so beautifully and so wretchedly he couldn't tear his eyes away; so gracefully clumsy, so perfectly plain to behold, so wise and so ignorant, so haunted and so naïve… he could have spent years trying to understand her, and yet once he had he would have killed the torture and the wonder that was her mystery.

He loved her.

He loved her, and he _did _want her by his side every morning. He wanted her laugh ringing in the halls of his apartment, wanted her smile brightening the walls, wanted her golden hair fluttering around the corners. In essence, he wanted – he snorted to himself, and shook his head at the thought. It was almost like he wanted to _marry _her. And she was only sixteen.

Motoki would have told him he was in over his head, just a little, if he was having thoughts like that. He would have replied calmly that Motoki could go screw himself.

And, oddly enough, through that thought process, something clicked in his brain and his eyes opened calmly once more. So that was it. Of course that would make him think of Usako; it could just as easily have been her.

The talismans would be found soon. A pure heart was going to die.

* * *

He cursed the sunlight for its blatant contrast to the leaden melancholy in his stomach, in his throat. Nothing, though, could melt his conviction, and it was with a solemn but certain step that he treaded his way to Usako's house.

"Mamo-chan!"

Wearily, he turned around. Chibiusa bounced towards him, Luna P in tow. "Mamo-chan, Mamo-chan!" she continued to sing.

"Chibiusa," he scolded quietly, "should you really be wandering around town all on your own?"

Her eyes narrowed beadily in a fashion that was so Usagi-esque, he couldn't help smiling just a little. "Mama and Papa let me go around Crystal Tokyo whenever I want."

"Well, Crystal Tokyo's a little different than _this _Tokyo," Mamoru said. "You should stay with Ikuko-san and Kenji-san, just to be safe."

Big red eyes gazed up at him solemnly. "But Mamo-chan," she said, "I'm at least eight hundred and fifty years older than them."

He laughed and fluffed one of her little rabbit-ears affectionately. "I need to go find Usako," he said. "Come with me?"

"I can't." Chibiusa giggled. "I'm going to meet Masanori-kun."

"_Who?" _Mamoru cried, a certain paternal instinct flaring up in his ribs.

Chibiusa grinned. "Don't worry. Kenji-papa already yelled about that, in front of Usagi, and Usagi-baka says that maybe you'll appreciate Kenji-papa a little more now." She shook her head. "Whatever that means."

Mamoru smirked. "Did she really."

"I've got to go," Chibiusa said, zooming off with her arms outstretched. "Ja ne, Mamo-chan!"

Chuckling, he rounded the corner to see Usagi, pajama-clad, bunny-slippered, shuffling out her door. "Chibiusa?" she called to the mostly empty street.

Mamoru picked up his pace. "Usako!" he called.

She squinted in his direction, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun. "Mamoru?"

"Where are your parents?" he yelled.

"Out," she replied as he turned onto her sidewalk. "Why do you ask?"

"Just making sure," he said jauntily, almost jogging up to her porch. "You could say I've learned to appreciate your father better." And with that he pinned her against the front door and kissed her swiftly. "I need to talk to you."

Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed pleasurably. "You ran into Chibiusa?"

"Who the hell is Masanori-kun?" he demanded.

"Aw, he's a cute little boy, Mamo-chan. Don't get all fatherly and imperious _now_."

"She _is _my _daughter_!"

"Not _yet_, she's not. She _will _be your daughter." Usagi shrank down against the door. "Let's go inside; the neighbors might get suspicious."

He snorted. "I bet. Actually… yeah, alright."

"What?" she asked curiously, slipping through the doorway and letting him in.

He stood awkwardly in the foyer while she bustled around, mindlessly straightening the rain jackets on their coat hooks. "I – had a premonition," he said.

She turned to face him seriously. "About what?"

"A talisman. I just know that a talisman is going to be found, really soon. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, but… soon."

Frowning, she stared at the floor and poked the end of her pigtail into her jaw. "So what do we do?"

"I dunno," he said helplessly. "I have absolutely no idea."

"If Eugeal gets the talisman –"

"Then she's one step closer to finding the grail. I know."

She hugged herself miserably. "What good is a warning if we have no idea how to handle it?" Her hand curled into a fist and smacked against the wall behind her. "Mamoru, I _won't _let that happen. I will _not _allow Eugeal to get a talisman. I just – I _can't_."

"That's not really the issue," he said. "I was thinking a lot this morning about how you were in danger, now that she knows who you are. She obviously has some sort of technology that allows her to track her targets; I'm sure she can do the same to you."

"But the target, Mamo-chan -!"

"Forget the target!" he said heatedly. "We need some way of securing your identity! I was thinking about just passing you around through the Senshi, so one of them could alert the others as soon as Eugeal shows up for you…"

"Mamo-chan…"

"But that all depends on if she can really track you down to your exact position, which is virtually impossible without some sort of alien power…"

"Mamo-chan…"

"So then you might be better off somewhere else entirely, because she could probably find your friends' houses and look for you there…"

"Mamo-chan…"

"And Lord knows _I _would take you, but that would be the first place she'd look, isn't it? Dammit, if we could just figure out how she finds us, it would change everything –"

"MAMO-CHAN!"

He blinked. "Hm?"

"I. Can. Take. Care. Of. My. Self. The _target _is what we need to worry about!"

"Haruka and Michiru always happen to show up whenever a pure heart is targeted. I'm sure they're able to sense it. They're perfectly capable –"

"But sometimes they need our help!"

"Well, they can handle it! Dammit, Usako, do you realize how eager Eugeal is going to be to get rid of Sailor Moon?"

"Sailor Moon? I _love _Sailor Moon!" Shingo bounced down the stairs. "What about her? Oh, ohayo, Mamoru-kun."

"It's not even morning anymore," said Usagi dismissively. "Is it? Who knows. Mamo-chan, I'm going to get dressed, and we'll discuss this further, alright?"

She hurried upstairs; Shingo and Mamoru watched her go.

"Usagi wants me to think she's not obsessed with Sailor Moon," Shingo said at length, "but I know she is."

There was an awkward silence.

Mamoru mumbled something about waiting outside, nice weather, after all. "Ja ne, Shingo-kun."

He stepped out into the cesspool of dry early heat. Cars milled about, and people slowly bled onto the sidewalks, populating the pavement like large, scurrying ants. Loud honks filled the distance, and Mamoru rolled his eyes; some people were just too impatient.

The honks grew louder.

And louder.

And suddenly a long white car zoomed down the street, and before Mamoru had time to take in a breath to yell, a white-fingered woman with crimson hair darted out of the driver's seat and aimed a rather atrocious gun-like object at Mamoru's chest.

"Wait," he said, hands up, backing away, "wait, before you do anything, you've _seriously _got the wrong person. I assure you, I do _not_ have a pure heart."

Her eyes narrowed into little scarlet slits. "Chiba Mamoru," she said. "Correct?"

His eyebrows rose; he couldn't help being surprised. "Well – well yeah, but there's got to be a glitch in your system, I swear, my heart is _not _pure. I'm dedicated to _lots _of things, like studying, and – " He cut himself off. He couldn't very well say 'saving the world' without suggesting that he had an alter ego, and there were only so many six foot tall, blue eyed, black haired male superheroes in Tokyo.

Eugeal seemed to be waiting for him to continue.

"Anyway, I don't have a pure heart, Eugeal, I promise."

"Convincing evidence," she said snidely. "But I'm too curious, at this point. How do you know who I am?"

He bit his lip and examined the possibilities. He could transform in an instant, compromise his identity, and try to attack; or he could try to outrun her.

Neither was too appealing.

How could he run, with Usako unknowing just a wall away? How could he value his identity over her safety?

Just as he made up his mind to transform, Eugeal screeched, "CAPTURED!" and the sensation of a ton of bricks focused into a single prick of sheer force smacked him in the chest. He stumbled backward, collapsed to his knees, and through a gray film in his eyes he saw a brilliant multi-thistled jewel floating outside of his chest.

"Is it a talisman?" Eugeal barked, lowering her gun.

He took a leaf out of Minako's book and seized the crystal. It throbbed, pulsated painfully between his hands.

"Don't put that crystal back in your heart, Mamoru-kun," ordered a husky voice.

Gasping for breath and for blood, he looked up to see Sailor Uranus, flanked by Neptune, by the Tsukinos' front door.

"Uranus," he gasped.

"It's different, I saw it!" Eugeal screeched. "Give it to me!_" _

"It's ours!" Uranus growled, and Neptune raised her arms, prepared to attack.

"It's _mine!" _cried a new voice. A very familiar voice.

Oh Lord, he thought. Please, no speech. Not the inevitable speech...

"For love and justice - and _especially _for love - the pretty sailor-suited senshi, Sailor Moon! Leave my Mamo-chan a_lone! _If his heart belongs to anyone, it's me! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

He groaned. Usako…

Before he could react, Neptune dashed forward and snatched the crystal out of his hands. "Look, Uranus," she crooned. "Look how many – how many little _spiny _things there are!"

Uranus snorted at her partner. "Eloquent, Neptune."

"Is it a talisman?" asked Eugeal shrilly.

"It looks different," Moon mused thoughtfully, jumping down from her bedroom window. "It's much more… complex than the others were."

The four women gathered around Neptune's outstretched palm, gazing at the crystal.

"Reached a verdict yet?" Mamoru wheezed.

"He's your boyfriend?" Eugeal asked Sailor Moon.

She nodded. She gasped. She shook her head. "Yes – no, no, he isn't – I don't – give it back!" She grabbed for the heart, but Neptune whisked it away.

"What do you think, Uranus?" she muttered.

"If it was a talisman, it would have shown itself by now. Here, odangos." Uranus took the crystal from Neptune and tossed to Sailor Moon.

"I think _not!" _Eugeal said loudly. She intercepted the crystal and seized Sailor Moon by the throat. "You let me take this, or she dies."

Really? Mamoru thought distantly. Just his luck.

Uranus flinched towards the choking Sailor Moon, but thought better of it. "If it's not a crystal, it's not our business," she said in a forced, standoffish tone. She and Neptune loped away, closely tailed by Eugeal's watchful eye.

It gave Mamoru just enough time.

_Whoosh_.

Eugeal yelped and yanked the sharp rose out of her hand; Sailor Moon gasped for breath and massaged her throat before seizing the crystal from Eugeal and sprinting back to Mamoru.

"Ma-mo-CHAN!" she yelled. "Hey! Pull yourself together!"

"Maybe if you gave me that back," he said tightly, "I would."

"Right. Sorry." She pressed the crystal into his chest, and he fell to his hands as warmth and pulsing life flushed through him.

"FIRE –"

"Don't even _think _about it!" Sailor Moon roared, whirling around and procuring her spiral moon heart stick thing (Mamoru could never remember what the hell it was called) from seemingly nowhere. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"

"- BUSTER!"

Fire clashed head-on into bright rosy light; the two opposing forces spurted and dripped raw power, but could not make a budge either way. Mamoru gazed, entranced by the deadlock, before remembering that he was Tuxedo Kamen and perhaps he should pick up his ass and make an effort to do something remotely helpful.

A flick of the wrist and his rose went flying into Eugeal's side. She screamed and the fire attack flared out.

Mamoru stood now, the full comprehension of Eugeal's intentions now flushing through his veins. "You get _out _or I swear to God I will _end _you."

"Tuxedo Kamen," said Eugeal, her eyes glimmering mischievously. "You're usually more chivalrous than that."

"GET AWAY!" he roared, sending another rose pelting toward her feet.

She lowered her weapon and sprinted to her car. "A complicated heart," she said, "but pure all the same."

As soon as she drove into the distance, Sailor Moon whirled around and smashed into his arms. "Mamo- Tuxedo Kamen, are you alright?"

He wrapped himself tightly around her, felt her quivering with adrenaline against his chest. "Are you?"

"Yeah, of course – I was so afraid your crystal was a talisman at first, I couldn't believe it!"

"It was… different looking," he admitted. "I couldn't believe when she actually said I had a pure heart. Complete bullshit."

"No, it makes sense," Moon insisted. "You have a lot of things important to you in your life; you have goals. Unlike some of us." She blushed a little. "But in the end you're always there for me, Mamo-chan. And I think that's what counts."

"She tried to _kill you_," he said, his jaw twitching with undiluted fury. "_Twice."_

"Deep breaths," Usagi reminded him, and he chuckled grudgingly. "It doesn't matter. We'll beat them in the end."

Suddenly, he stiffened. "Shingo," he said immediately.

"Oh, don't worry about him," she assured him. "He's playing Sailor V. _Nothing_ can distract him."

* * *

"Did you hear?" asked Mimete. "Eugeal failed _again. _Of course, she wasn't allowed a Daimohn, but still..."

"We ought to play a trick on her," said Telulu eagerly.

"I don't know," said Mimete loftily. "Apparently she's just perfected a new piece of equipment. 'Fail-proof', she says." The orange-eyed girl giggled. "I know!" she squealed. "The lab snails!"

* * *

...and we'll pick up next time with episode 110 (sort of - I'll give you guys a few recaps and then write a chapter after the Marine Cathedral episodes are over).

See you then! Thanks for reading (and I love love love reviews)!!


	22. Touch

RRRAAWWWWWRRRRR! SHEEEE'S ALIIIIIIIVEEEE!

(By "she" I mean me. Or more accurately, the story. Either one.)

I hereby repeal my own right to beg for reviews because I haven't updated in, um, months? Wow. Updatingfail. But I'm trying to convince myself (trying) that I'm not going to give up on my stories.

I just leave them on really long hiatuses. Heh. Heheh...

* * *

Episode 111

Recap: Uh, nothing much. Basically no one IMPORTANT dies; the grail appears from Pluto's garnet, Uranus' sword, and Neptune's mirror; and Sailor Moon does a pretty little transformation stunt. Lots of pink light. And then Eugeal dies. Aw, man. She was my favorite. Mimet sucks, her voice is, like, squirrel pitch.

The reason they're all whining is that they were engulfed by FIRE BUSTER ATTACK for literally like 5 minutes. I mean, maybe it's just me, but I think that would hurt.

* * *

"Next," Mamoru called.

Shivering in relief, Ami stood and stretched. "Arigato, Mamoru-kun. It feels much better now."

A howl echoed through the apartment. "Mako-chan, it _hurts!"_

"Because you're thrashing around! Just hold still!"

"I _can't _hold still, because it _hurts!"_

Mamoru slapped his palm to his forehead. "I think you'd better send Usako in, Ami-chan."

She nodded vigorously and hurried back into the bedroom.

"Makoto, aloe vera is for _sunburns!" _Rei's voice roared.

"So, what's the difference?"

"This is a _fire _burn, baka!"

"What's your point? It's supposed to be soothing, right? And healing and… and stuff, so I thought since Usagi had to wait –"

"It HURTS!" Usagi wailed.

"Usagi-chan, Mamoru's ready for you," said Ami's voice tentatively.

"Good," she growled. "Took him long enough."

He thought about telling _her _to heal second-degree burns within a matter of minutes. The thought was short-lived.

"Oh, you think you're such a martyr," Rei was grumbling. "Some of us take it in _silence_, you know."

"Who?" asked Minako doubtfully. "Not you, you're talking too much."

There was a very loud and heated pause. Soon after, a pattering of feet alerted Mamoru of Usagi's arrival.

He grinned up at her expectantly, but the smile faded when he saw how red she looked places that weren't covered by his old t-shirt. "How's it feel, Usako?"

"Hurts," she pouted.

"Sit?"

"I can't!" Her lower lip quivered dangerously. "It stings too bad!"

"Fine. Strip."

"WHAT? PERVERT!"

He sighed patiently. "You're wearing _something _under that, aren't you?"

"Oh." She blushed. "Right." Tenderly, she lifted the t-shirt over her head. Mamoru winced a bit, seeing the broiled tissue that was beginning to scar over. Thank goodness for sparkly pink moon power, or she'd've been burnt to a crisp.

"Scared me today, Usako," he murmured as he placed his hands lightly over the burns on her neck.

She was silent, her eyes half-open. He pressed his hands more firmly against her skin, and the redness slowly dissipated, blended away into healthy flesh. "Feels good," she muttered. "It's cool."

"I wanted to tell you," Mamoru said, moving to her shoulders, "but it never seemed the right time – Eugeal's dead."

Usagi's chin drooped onto her clavicle as her muscles relaxed. "How?" she asked dully.

How nice of her to show so much interest. Or to sound completely unenthusiastic. Either one. "The people she's working with sabotaged her car. Pulled out the brakes. She flew off into the water."

"When did you see it?"

"Just when we got back here."

"Mm."

His hands flowed languidly over her skin, and she rolled her spine at the contact. The vertebrae, each so delicate, so refined, shaping her torso like the neck of a swan, entranced him, and gradually his original purpose became secondary to watching Usagi, simply _feeling _her, knowing she was alive and beautiful and good beneath his fingers. The less he concentrated, the more he could feel his power spreading through her body, growing in intensity and volume, washing out of his grasp like a speeding train, as though someone had injected it with adrenaline. A surge of intuition told him that his healing, though arduous and grueling when applied to the other girls, became second nature, as simple as touch, when it collided with Usagi's power.

Which was kind of convenient. He was sort of wiped out.

At first, she broke into pale goosebumps; his palms rubbed over her arms in response, tracing down her elbow to her wrist, and from her wrist to her hips. Her body began to twitch slightly, and suddenly broke into a series of convulsions as his hands wrapped around her waist _and he would have stopped, would have stepped back, but this connection, it was ensnaring_; she rose slightly off the ground, her head and her hair lolling back onto his shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut, her lips parted; and from her pores burst a million rays of blinding white light.

Her mouth quivered, her body throbbed, and she let out a ragged groan of sensation. She shone there, floating, pulsing in his arms, for a moment; he felt her tremble beneath his fingers, and though she was the one half-naked he felt uncomfortably exposed, as if he'd violated her somehow, as if he were observing something supernatural (which it was) and hallowed (no doubt) and utterly intimate (but how – and why?).

But then the light died out, and her toes touched the ground, and she sagged against him, breathing heavily.

"Mamo-chan," she said after a moment.

He found his voice. "Y-yeah?"

"Was that _you?"_

"I think it was both of us," he replied frankly.

She glanced up at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Mamo-chan?" she repeated.

"Hm?"

She swallowed heavily. "I feel like I've done something…wrong."

He knew she wouldn't say it aloud, and he wasn't sure if he dared to himself. "It's alright," he said, trying not to sound uncertain. "Nothing – happened. It was just – "

"It just _felt _–" Usagi interrupted before cutting herself off.

"Well." Awkwardly, he stroked her head between the odangos. "Your skin's better, anyhow."

Rei came barreling into the midst of the room just then, the angry red welts across her cheeks matching the fervor in her eyes. "What are you two _doing? _Are you _trying _to send out a flare? 'Hey, look, come over here, Eugeal, I'M SAILOR MOON!'" She waved her arm sarcastically; the other hand clutched at a pair of Mamoru's boxers to keep them from sliding off her narrow hips.

"It was an accident," Mamoru replied coolly. "And anyway, it doesn't matter. Eugeal's dead."

Rei raised a thin eyebrow. "Since when?"

"Since her car got rigged."

"It blew up?" The excitement in her eyes was a little disturbing.

"It ran over the edge of some cliff into the water."

She pursed her lips. "How do you even know?"

"I _saw _it," said Mamoru with an air of wounded pride. "In a vision. I _saw _it."

"Oh." Rei wrinkled her nose. "Well. Are you done with Usagi, then, Mamoru-kun? I don't mean to complain –"

"But she won't stop whining," Makoto supplied, sticking her head out from the bedroom.

"I don't _whine_," insisted Rei imperiously. "Minako _whines_. Usagi _whines. I _do not whine. It just stings."

He felt revitalized, renewed, through the blast of Usagi's power. "No problem," he said.

Rei moved closer and eyed Usagi's exposed skin. "Do I have to take off all my clothes, too, or is that just for people you're dating?"

"What precisely are you insinuating, Hino-san?" asked Mamoru coldly while Usagi glowered and shoved the t-shirt on once more.

"Oh, nothing," she said loftily.

"You don't have to take off anything," Mamoru said. "I've got an idea. Usako, stay here," he added as Usagi inched away.

"What for?"

He took her hand tightly in his and felt the radiance still glowing beneath her skin. "Just – this." Reaching out, he pressed his other palm against Rei's cheek.

"Whoa!" Rei shouted, jumping back as an effervescent shock bolted through his and Usagi's connection. "Jesus, what _was _that?"

"Hmh." Mamoru smirked, leaned forward, inspected the vanishing welts on her face. "Not bad, eh?"

"You did that just by touching Usagi?" Rei's lips turned down, as if she were less than impressed.

"Sparkly pink moon powers!" said Mamoru in a high imitation of Usagi's voice, by means of an explanation.

Usagi growled. "Ba-_kaaaa_!" Her bare foot stomped down hard on his shoe. "Oh, _ow!" _She proceeded to hop around on one leg, clutching at her heel. "That _hurt!"_

Mamoru gazed at her with a mixture of amusement and disdain before glancing back at Rei. "Anything else you need?" he asked rather sardonically.

"God," Rei muttered, turning to leave. "If you can do that just by touching, what the hell is _sex _gonna be like?"

"_REI-BAKA!" _Usagi screeched.

Mamoru clapped his palms to his face yet again.

* * *

C'mon, kids. Just spit it out. WHY DID USAGI JUST PSEUDO-ORGASM? That's what we all want to know. Sheesh.

So kind of weird, right? I'm not really sure how I feel about that.

Anyhow, thanks for reading! Hope to see you again soon! As in, within the next few _weeks_, not _months_. *Berates self*

Love, SB


	23. Stargazing

Hey look! An update! Do I get to beg for reviews now? :)

Episode 112

Recap: Oh, hot _stuff! _We're back to Daimohn-of-the-Week and this one happens to be a blue Western-themed one who rides a white horse pogo stick! I mean of _course, _what _else _would it be? Mimet's voice is still really obnoxious, and she falls in love with a movie star over the course of 5 seconds, and then *gasp* he has a girlfriend, so she relents and takes his pure heart. By making the blue pogo-stick-riding Daimohn swallow it. Obviously. But we get to see Pluto whip out "Dead Scream" for the first time, which is AWE-someeee. Oh, and also we meet Hotaru and Dr. Tomoe – and discover that he is the evil professor. Sweet episode.

Why do almost every single one of these chapters take place in Mamoru's apartment? Settingfail.

* * *

"What I'd like to know," said Usagi thoughtfully, "is where all of these people _come _from."

"Hm?" said Mamoru, chewing on his index finger.

"The bad guys, _you_ know," she insisted. "This new one – Mimet or something – and Eugeal before, and Kaolinite before her… Do they just make clubs of people who want to throw the world over to darkness?"

"Mmhm," he said. "It's pretty popular. Right up there with scientology."

"What's that?"

"Never mind."

They were on their backs, staring up at the bleached-out sky from Mamoru's balcony. The city lights blared in condensation a few blocks away, but the horn honks and traffic screeches were distant enough to be white noise, soothing and nondescript.

"We should go out to the country sometime," Mamoru said quietly. "See the stars better from there."

Usagi sighed and nestled into his arm. "I kind of like it like this," she countered. "I like thinking that only the brightest stars can reach me here. The closest ones, the strongest ones. Like there's something watching over us from nearby. Even through all the extra lights, you know?" **

Christ, he loved it when she talked like that. "I guess so."

"It's just so beautiful," she said, her voice suddenly strained, high-pitched. "Why would someone want to destroy it? I don't understand."

"People have twisted ideas about what's the right thing to do," he replied evenly.

"Well here's a clue," she suggested. "_Their _plan involves _darkness_. Doesn't that kind of give them a hint?"

He chuckled. "You've got me there. But the Death Busters – "

"_Who?"_

"That's what they call themselves. The Death Busters."

She snorted. "What a terrible name."

"But doesn't that just give you a little bit of insight into their beliefs? Maybe they've got some convoluted concept that bringing more death into this world will ultimately destroy death itself."

"Mamo-chan," said Usagi impatiently, "they _take pure hearts_. Who would classify that as _good?"_

"All I'm saying is that you're thinking in black and white. Maybe you have to be able to empathize with the enemy before you destroy them."

"That's sick," Usagi muttered. "Reach out to someone and then kill them?"

"Alright," he acknowledged, "I didn't mean it quite like that…"

"If you're going to bother to try and think like them, you've got to be ready to lose," said Usagi firmly. "I'm not going to lose, Mamoru."

"Of course you're not," he said. "But you can still attempt to comprehend, all the same."

They were silent for a moment.

"It makes me wonder," Usagi said. "Setsuna-san said that if this world was destroyed, the future would change. But in the future, if there _is _a world, doesn't that mean we _do _win?"

"Hm," said Mamoru pensively. "I suppose that would imply that there's a good number of alternate futures depending on the outcomes of our battles. There might even be an infinite amount, each determined by the most minute decisions of our lives. Say in one situation you almost got hit by a car***. In an alternate universe there might be no Crystal Tokyo; there might be complete annihilation, if new enemies appeared. It all depends on if you died in that car accident or not."

"Maybe I was fine," Usagi grumbled. "Maybe nothing happened."

"In this universe," Mamoru corrected her.

"I don't like it!" she grumped. "If I don't die, I don't die! Simple as that!"

"But then there's no way to explain what Setsuna was talking about."

"Oh, well!" She folded her arms. "Sue me!"

He chuckled. "You're funny, Usako."

"I'm not funny."

"You _are _funny. I'm _laughing_. Therefore you are _funny_."

"Baka," she growled.

He continued to laugh.

"Shut up," she said. "You're interrupting my deep thoughts."

"Deep thoughts, eh? I didn't know odango atama could think deep thoughts."

She slugged him on the arm. "I was _thinking_," she continued, "that we used to be up there with the constellations."

He blinked. "You lost me there, Usako."

"We were on the _moon, _Mamo-chan." She clutched wistfully at his fingers. "Doesn't it sound like a fairy tale?"

"It sounds like a sick load of crap," he replied frankly. "I'm not a huge fan of the whole Shakespearian tragedy stuff. Suicide's not up my alley."

Usagi sighed heavily. "You're missing the point, baka. It's romantic."

"It's disgusting," he insisted. Rolling onto his side, he stared into Usagi's eyes, glimmering from the balcony lamp. "You'd never think of doing that again, would you?"

She laughed airily, stretching her arms above her head. "What, kill myself? All on account of _you?" _She poked him in the side. "No, Mamo-chan. There are more important things than you and me. I imagine I only did it back then because everything else was crumbling."

"Good," he replied gruffly, folding his arms over his chest. "Because – because. Well. Good."

"I don't like thinking that," Usagi muttered. "I don't like thinking that things were so bad. I don't like thinking that it was really us. I just think of it as two different people, like our ancestors or something. Because it couldn't really have been us. That just doesn't make _sense_."

"It certainly does transcend logical explanations, doesn't it?" said Mamoru wryly. "Even if it was _physically _us, though, down to the DNA, that doesn't mean we aren't different now, Usako. Everyone changes. Maybe we're so different, just from the way we've been brought up, and the world that we're living in, that we wouldn't even recognize ourselves from that life." He snorted. "I sure didn't recognize myself in a purple tuxedo."

"Yeah… I'm kind of scared about the future if you wear those pants," Usagi giggled. "They were terrible pants. Or they _are _– or… or they _will_ be?"

He laughed. "Yes, that's right. They _will _be terrible pants."

Usagi leaned her cheek on his shoulder. "I like it how you make everything sound okay, Mamo-chan."

"I like that about me, too," he joked. "Nah, I'm just trying to be reasonable about it."

"One of us should be," Usagi murmured. "And I have a feeling it's not me."

"You try," Mamoru sighed theatrically.

Usagi chuckled. "Not really. I like things exciting, rather than reasonable."

"I think it's that attitude in you that created that sparkly pink moon stick."

"_Wand!" _cried Usagi. "Sparkly pink moon _wand! _Why do you always make fun of my wand?"

"Because it's ridiculous! And pink!"

"I'm ridiculous and pink," said Usagi, "but you still love _me_."

"…I don't think you meant that quite the way you said it, Usako."

"Hm?"

"Never mind."

"I like us now," she decided. "I don't care about what we were or what we will be. I just like us now."

"Me too."

"I'd rather just be Usagi and Mamoru instead of constellations."

"Me too."

"Normal us instead of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen."

"Hey, don't rule out the super hero aspect. _I'm_ not complaining about the powers."

"You don't think the fighting gets old?" she asked uncertainly.

"Sure it does. But what other guy gets to say he can do _this?" _He flicked his fingers and showered three roses onto her stomach.

Usagi laughed and plucked one up delicately before bringing it to her nose to sample the smell. "Good point."

* * *

**THIS IS NOT A POSSIBLE FORESHADOWING OF THE STARLIGHTS. NOT AT ALL. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

***AND THIS IS NOT A REFERENCE TO ANGELMOON GIRL'S "QUIRK OF FATE". SERIOUSLY. IT'S NOT. YOU'RE IMAGINING THINGS.

So how do you like _that? _I _updated! _

Thanks for reading! (Want to review? Pleaseeeee?)

~SB


	24. Sunset in a Cup

Episode 113 Recap: Mamoru confronts the Outer Senshi about fighting with the Inners; they say they're more powerful, and Sailor Moon's gang just drags them down. Usagi and Chibiusa visit Hotaru – a woman mysteriously similar to Kaolinite answers the door – and then take her along to a book signing, where Mimet has targeted the author of a popular manga. The Outers save Usagi from the Daimohn (who tells everyone to meet their deadlines. Thanks for that) but then the Inners team up to defeat the Daimohn and Mamoru gives Uranus a Smug Look. (I chuckled.)

* * *

_Bring me the sunset in a cup,_  
_Reckon the morning's flagons up_  
_And say how many Dew,_  
_Tell me how far the morning leaps —_  
_Tell me what time the weaver sleeps_  
_Who spun the breadth of blue!_

_~Emily Dickinson_

* * *

Mamoru liked everything. Poetry, physics, chemistry, history, languages, calculus, even _grammar_, for God's sake. The chill he got from reading a particularly well-formed sentence was like no other, but still bore some similarities to that which he received from solving a lengthy and twisted equation. Unfortunately, this same aptitude for scholarly pursuits did not in the least carry over into the social world, where he tended to flounder and flail like a fish out of water, or dive behind a cold, polite mask.

In other words, Chiba Mamoru was a first-class geek.

Tsukino Usagi hated everything. Everything academic, to be precise, or anything that required a certain level of intelligence. She was good at very few things, and those at which she excelled generally involved basic survival instincts, such as eating and sleeping. She was also good at crying, laughing, brownnosing, worming her way through school with very few passing grades, bickering with Rei, gossiping with Minako, and on very rare occasions, saving the world.

To put it lightly, Tsukino Usagi was the blondest of the blonde, who only made it out of situations alive thanks to one particular moon wand.

Mamoru and Usagi were, undeniably, two polar opposites. He was refined and mature, she young and childish; he was tall, dark, and mysterious, she tiny, fair-skinned, and bubbly; he was book smart, she street smart, if in any way at all; he flinched away from contact with the world on account of a dark past while she forged ahead, unbidden but unafraid, letting the trials of her life bounce off her very skin; he was sin and she redemption; he was pardon and she mistakes; he was loneliness and she companionship; he was forethought and she impulsivity; he was silent and she raucous, he composed and she unstrung. He was shadow, she radiant light; he was deep, damp earth, she a luminescent moon.

Put them together (or so the fates did), and they were inseparable.

"_Maaa_-mo-_chan_," Usagi sang shrilly. "I'm _bored_." She was lounging across his couch, her head dangling off the cushions, eyes glazed over as the TV glowed in their reflections.

"Mm," said Mamoru comprehensively. He flipped the page of his poetry anthology.

"I want to _do _something."

"Hmmm."

"What are you reading?"

"Yeah."

"MAMORU!"

"Whaaa?" He jumped, the book slipping down his lap. "Sorry, what?"

"You're not _listening_ to me," she growled through clenched teeth. Her head bobbed once in an indignant nod; her odangos wobbled, their pigtails zigzagging like loose blonde snakes across the carpet.

"No," he agreed drily, "I'm not."

"What are you _doing_?" she repeated.

"Reading…" He glanced up at her skeptically. "I would have thought that was obvious to the naked eye." He nibbled pensively on a knuckle. "Or even a clothed eye…"

"Baka," she grumbled. "_What _are you reading?"

"Currently?"

"No," she drawled, "four days ago."

He snorted. "Emily Dickinson."

"Who?"

He cleared his throat and read to her, translating as he went: "'Bring me the sunset in a cup'…"

"Oh. _That _kind of thing." She huffed dismissively and dangled her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.

Mamoru watched her wryly. "That's cute, Usako."

"Shut up." But she drew back the tongue. "I'm _bored_."

"I was trying to read you some really good stuff. Maybe if you paid attention you might actually enjoy it."

"It's foreign, right?"

"_You're _foreign," he muttered.

"That's mature, Mamoru." Suddenly the spitting image of elegance, she turned herself right side up and crossed her legs delicately at the knee.

"Mm, you're right. I ought to be more like _you_." He smirked.

"You should," Usagi agreed, nodding imperiously. "_I _don't make stupid jokes."

"Oh, that's right," said Mamoru with a sarcastic air of sudden recollection. "Yeah, that one you told to Minako the other day about the dolphin buying squid was _hilarious_…"

"It's _irony! _They're both _sea creatures!"_

"That's not _irony_, Usako, that's _idiocy_."

"How so?"

"Because it's absolutely the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" His glasses slipped off his nose in desolate chagrin.

"Just because you don't appreciate high comedy…"

"_High comedy?" _he cried. "Are you honestly _that _disillusioned?"

"Maybe," she sniffed. "Maybe not."

He settled back into his chair with a dark chuckle. "Do you have any inkling what 'disillusioned' means?"

She sniffled in a superior sort of way. "Why do you say that?"

"Trust me, odangos, you give yourself away." He winked at her.

"Hmph." She waited two seconds before she began again. "Mamo-chan, I'm _bored…"_

"Heh," he replied, with something of an evil glint in his eye. "'Bring me the sunset in a cup'…"

"No, no," Usagi sighed, flapping her hand, "I already said, no poetry."

"Maybe it's not just poetry," he said with his most mysterious voice. "Maybe it's… advice."

"Right, because that makes sense," said Usagi. "I'll be on my way, then, and…" Her eyes went wide and blank for a moment. "_Oh!"_

"Eureka?" he teased.

"Um… I'll be back soon!" She scurried away into the kitchen.

Shrugging to himself, Mamoru returned to his poem.

'…_Reckon the morning's flagons up/ And say how many Dew_,…'

Usagi dashed back across the room, odangos trailing yellow ribbons behind her.

"Usako?"

"I said I'll be back soon!" she called over her shoulder, and she disappeared onto the balcony.

Instead of reading on, he found himself watching her – not in a _weird _sort of way, he reminded himself sternly, just _watching_. Admiring, perhaps, but not… not _ogling_, per se. Just looking at the way her ankles crossed between the shadow of the railing, how her slender feet rubbed together in thought, how her knees hit and her thighs touched and how he couldn't _quite _see anything beneath that little skirt as she leaned over slightly…

He grumbled to himself for being a pervert, but he was a _man_, wasn't he? He couldn't help himself, really. And she was his – or so he liked to think – wasn't she? She seemed to elude all possession, somehow, and despite all of her sunny smiles and sweet kisses, she seemed perfectly liable to dash away from him in a flicker of light, just on a whim, on a fancy, on someone newer and fresher and brighter than he…

She glanced back at him surreptitiously, and giggled when she saw him looking at her. He smiled and shook his head at his poetry.

'_Tell me how far the morning leaps –'_

Argh, he couldn't focus. Not with her, out there, basking in the boorish blue-black cityscape, harsh and geometric against a softening summer sky. The streetlights seemed to part for her; the sun seemed to zone in a spotlight of pure and glowing beauty, between the buildings, weaving through the streets, and there was nothing obstructing that view of the world, of the sunset, of the stars hiding behind the lingering light, of the moon riding the wind around his planet, and it was her, it was always her. It always had been. It always would be.

And she grew brighter still, a subtle but insistent glow flooding from her toes, from beneath her clothes, from her eyes (but he couldn't see them) and her hair, billowing out in a breeze that may or may not have been there just for her, just for her magic –

But all at once the sun died out and the stars popped into view and Usagi turned around with her hands cupped around something he couldn't see (but he could have sworn there was sunlight blooming from between her fingers).

"Mamo-chan?" she said when she stepped inside once more.

"Yes, ma'am?"

Biting back a grin, she hopped over to him and kissed his forehead. "I brought you the sunset in a cup," she whispered. Her hands parted…

And a tiny star exploded from the depths of the opaque shot glass she held in her palms.

His face erupted into a huge smile. "Usako," he murmured, "how - ?"

"You experiment," she said loftily. "Why can't I?"

"It's amazing," he whispered. "I can't believe…"

But it was her magic, all along.

"What happens if you let it go?" Mamoru asked after a moment.

"Dunno." Her expression was impish. "Let's see." Grasping the glass firmly in one hand and his wrist in the other, she dashed back out the balcony; he tripped along in her wake. "It's like a little firefly," she crooned to her captured sunset. "I wonder if it would become…"

"Go ahead and see," Mamoru urged.

So she raised her arms above her head and released the light, and it shot high up into the cloudless atmosphere to join the stars.

"I made a star," she said softly, and she looked up at him with a gaze full of wonder, with a tear trickling down her cheek. "Mamo-chan…"

He wrapped her up tightly in his arms and kissed her insistently, and knew he could never let go of her, never, not for a sunset, not for the earth, not for the cosmos. And she kissed him back, and he knew she would stay.

* * *

Okay... alright, I'm really sorry about that. You all know I like to play around with their powers but this was a little... uh... "Hello, SB, ever heard of something called CANON?" Yeesh. So I apologize. This is why I write fantasy.

HAVE SOME COOKIES. *cookiessss*

Love, SB


	25. Cloud Nine

A few things are in order here.

One, I haven't disclaimed in a while. Yeah, yeah, not mine. Except the song excerpt is but whatever.

Two, we passed 12,000 hits on this story! You guys deserve a huge, ginormous, reverberating THAAANK YOUU! You're seriously the best readers and reviewers EVER! You've been so patient with me and I'm glad you're enjoying this story as much as I am! (:

Three, regarding this chapter: Yeah, it's short. No dialogue. It works better that way, I think. I just love Mamoru, okay, gosh... *hides in the corner*

Four, have a recap that is irrelevant to the chapter to come:

Episode 114: Mimet-centric. Ugh. Not a ton happens, really. She and Minako go out for the same contest to be a heroine in pop star Araki-kun's upcoming movie and, uh, no one wins, so Mimet takes his heart. But then the Senshi show up and – weirdly enough – give the heart _back_.

Shocker, I know. But seriously, Mimet needs to stop having alternate fantasies between every celebrity ever and the Professor, simultaneously. It's creeping me out.

* * *

_I'm riding on Cloud Nine_

_So stars, come at me_

_I swear I'm doing fine_

_So earth, forget me_

_And when the fire rains above, I'll know the world is over_

_~ an original song_

* * *

Curled, catlike, she slept in his lap.

_"Battles always tire me out," she'd said through a yawn, over the phone. "I should – s-stay home." Another yawn, even louder. _

_"Please?" he'd begged softly. "I'd just… I'd like you to come. If you can."_

_"Well…" He'd heard her hesitate, heard her temptation. "I guess I could ask Mama if I can stay at… at…"_

_"I think it's Ami's turn, isn't it?"_

_"Yeah, Ami's. Ami's house."_

_Twenty minutes later, she'd arrived at his door, odangos drooping. "I almost fell asleep on the bus," she'd announced dolefully. "I mean, I did. I think. I'm actually not even sure."_

_He'd laughed and scooped her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, and deposited her on the couch. __She was asleep in minutes._

In the midst of a dream, she twitched and sighed, murmuring something that sounded vaguely akin to "Mamoru".

He smiled.

He would never tell her why he needed her so badly. He could never really describe the way the hollow in his chest stopped aching whenever she was near; how his mind could clear again in her presence; how the fog lifted, how the stupor vanished, and how he felt invigorated, revitalized, energized, restored. How the constant edge of creeping destruction that hovered nebulously around him seemed to dissipate at her touch. How deeply, madly, horrifically in love he was.

No, he wouldn't tell her, because he was a proud sort of boy with a vanity that led to standoffishness. He wasn't used to opening up and spilling his guts and this particular subject didn't exactly his image of his own masculinity. Being a man and being head-over-heels for some beautiful girl – that meant he was either profoundly lucky or profoundly whipped, depending on what sort of male you asked. Not that he really cared, much; his closest acquaintances were men many years his senior or very sensible, studious young women, and how could he, Mamoru-kun, a very dedicated, very reserved, very down-to-earth sort of fellow, skip into class one day and start singing about _love, _of all things? He chuckled at the thought of his professors' faces when they saw Chiba-kun dancing around the desks and clicking his heels together. They'd think he lost it for sure.

But he was far from going crazy; he'd never felt more sane. It was a simple thing, love, coursing with hormones and instinct and evolution. Things were made to work this way. He was meant to feel this happy. It all pushed toward procreation, of course, and that was light years away, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the ride. And it made him feel better to know that this wasn't an accident; science was backing him up, and science he'd always trusted. There was no danger of being swept out of control by untamable emotion if this was the way things were supposed to be. And they were. He knew so. He'd seen the future.

Grinning widely to himself, he leaned his head back on interlaced fingers. He'd traveled _time_. He, Chiba Mamoru, was the only male ever to transcend the barriers of time and space. Damn, was that cool, or _what?_

_Cool_, his science-fiction-loving side assured him. _Way_ cool. _Unbelievably _cool. He still wondered about the alternate universes bit, but he'd take the challenges as they came, and worry about where he would end up when he ended up there. He had a feeling – just a feeling – that when he reached that place, he'd be alright.

Because it was like there was some driving force behind Usagi, something that was her and was far too alien to be in any way affiliated with her, all at once. Some pulsating network of love and justice was driving her forward to cleanse the earth, and if Mamoru had ever found anything of God in the world, it was that presence. And that presence would not exist without her, and so neither would his God, neither would his salvation, neither would his happiness or sanity or purpose.

She was his essence. She was his life.

Usagi nuzzled into his stomach and he stroked her slightly tangled, sun-bleached hair.

He never could have believed that things could be so… so… _alright_. So precarious and so deadly and so _alright_. The destruction was hovering around the world, crowding at the edge of his dreams, but he was through the clouds, transcending the atmosphere, riding the stars.

The earth was his planet, his fortress, his responsibility, but for right now, he was fine. He was more than fine. He was…

He glanced down at his hand and smiled softly.

He was glowing.

* * *

Oddly enough, I meant the 'glowing' literally. Just 'cause I've been having so much fun with the magical side of these two lately. Heh.

I think this season is going to pick up speed pretty soon, so stick around for some action! (Hopefully.) Lord knows I've nothing better to do with myself, so frequent updates should be ahead!

(And there was much rejoicing.)

Love, SB


	26. Awakening

Yikes! It's summer and she's on a roll! This chapter is a tad bit unsettling, and was heavily inspired by Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Which I'm obsessed with, by the by.

Episode 115: Er… I think this chapter retells what happens in the episode enough for you to understand it; I don't want to be too redundant. If not just let me know!

* * *

_Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;_

_Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;_

_Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:_

_The firefly wakens: waken thou with me._

_~"Summer Night"' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson_

* * *

"Mamo-chan!" Usagi cried, bursting into the apartment. "Mamo-chan, there was a - !"

"Oh, yes." He stood by the door to the balcony, gazing out over the street. His fingers pulled delicately at his cheeks; teeth gnawed in a slow circular motion on his lower lip. Time seemed stretched, gelatinous, distorted as if he were looking at it through a bubble. "Yes, I felt it, alright."

"So…" Usagi shambled over next to him. "So you think that girl – Hotaru-chan – "

"Hotaru?"

"Tomoe Hotaru."

"Tomoe Hotaru," he repeated, trying the name out on his tongue. "Hm." _The firefly._

"So you think she could be… she could be… I don't know, who _could _she be?"

Mamoru bit down hard on his lip. "A – another Senshi? No… none of you exposed your powers before you were reawakened. So something… something dark, perhaps…"

"Not Hotaru-chan!" Usagi shook her head fiercely. "She's a sweet, kind girl. A good girl! A good friend of Chibiusa's…"

"Usako," he murmured, "you know that means nothing where the enemy is concerned."

"What about the Messiah?" she demanded, her eyes widening. "Could she be the Messiah?"

"Of Silence, though, or the one Uranus and Neptune are looking for? Well, they're looking for both, but…"

"Both?" said Usagi. "What do you mean, both?"

"Well, there's two Messiahs, obviously," Mamoru replied, beginning to pace. "One of Silence, which is what Rei and I keep seeing, and one who can vanquish the silence. Uranus and Neptune and Pluto are trying to find the – the Vanquisher, so to speak, in order to destroy the impending silence. And they thought that was you, originally, but – well, it looks like it's not."

"I'm sort of glad," said Usagi with a shaky laugh. "I – I'm kind of sick of having to vanquish things."

Mamoru chuckled. "Yeah, it gets to be a bit much, doesn't it?"

"So Hotaru could be either the Messiah of Silence or the Messiah of – Anti-Silence?"

"Sounds about right to me. If she's either of those, mind. She could just be…"

But neither of them could think of how Hotaru could get such power otherwise.

"Hey – you know, Mamo-chan – Uranus told us to stay away from her. From Hotaru-chan. She said… she said not to go near her, because… because Hotaru-chan said it herself. After she warded of the Daimohn, she ran away, she said she shouldn't see Chibiusa anymore. Why would Haruka-san agree with her? Doesn't she see that Hotaru-chan is confused? She needs help figuring out what's going on!"

"Either that, or she's dangerous," said Mamoru firmly. "Haruka might be overprotective, but she's also understands what's going on better than most of us. I wish I knew how, or I'd make her tell me…" He folded his arms in a menacing sort of way.

"That's right, Mamo-chan," said Usagi drily. "Go beat her up till she talks."

He rolled his eyes. "Hush, odangos."

Oddly, she had no retaliation, and together they stared out the window at the fading day.

"Strange," he murmured, "how everything comes alive at night."

"You mean the city?" she asked, her voice soothing and low.

"I mean _everything_. The air, the sky, the ground. Everything's realer. All the obscenities you only imagined before are suddenly so – so _tangible_." _And the fireflies... _

Usagi giggled nervously. "I think you've been reading too much poetry," she accused him.

He ignored her, too befuddled in the vast swarm of Feeling that enveloped him. "Usako," he murmured, "I'm afraid."

_There's a simplicity in darkness, a simplicity that makes vision so much clearer than light._

"No, Mamo-chan," she said, her lip pouting slightly in confusion. "No, you don't need to be afraid…"

"But you don't _feel _it, do you?" he spat, suddenly frustrated beyond words. "Dammit, Usako, you don't _feel _it, tightening every day, getting harder and harder to breathe, you don't _feel _it pressing in on your head, hanging right above you, because it _is_, there's something _coming_ and you – you have _no idea!"_ His hand pressed tight against his chest, fingers clutching, clawing at the skin as if begging entrance into his ribs, _just to have something to fill up the space – anything's better than emptiness and blankness and _

_Silence…_

(_So deafening it beat down on him mercilessly, like pounding faceless waves of corruption and destruction and death, it filled his ears and his eyes and his nose until he was drowning in it, swallowing it, and it soaked up his retinas, choked up his throat, filled his lungs to the brim, and it was all he could do not to scream – but even if he tried – _

_Nothing.)_

"Mamoru – _Mamoru! Snap out of it!" _

A tight slap on his cheek brought him gasping to the surface of reality, and he found himself pressed against the door, one hand grasping at the glass, the other scraping against his skin, against his bones.

"God, that was _scary!" _Usagi whimpered, snatching his hand away from his chest. "_God_, Mamoru, you made yourself _bleed_…"

He glanced down numbly at his fingers, tensed and shaking in Usagi's grip, and found they were crusted with blood. "Oh," he said. "Gross."

"What _was _that, you _baka?" _Suddenly irate, Usagi stamped her foot on the ground and thrust her face up into what he usually thought of as, well, _personal_ space. "What the _hell _do you think you're doing, scaring me like that? What the hell is _wrong _with you?"

"I…" He gulped. "I… I don't…"

"You can't let it get to you, Mamoru, do you hear me? Because if you go crazy, I have _nothing else to hang on to, do you hear me? Nothing else! _So… don't… don't _do _that to me, _God!"_ She whirled away, her chest heaving, his hand still firmly in her grasp.

"I'm sorry," he said, his mind still bland and syrupy and utterly confused. "I don't know what… it's just… it keeps eating at me, it keeps…"

"Nothing's happened yet," she whispered, pressing his captive hand to her cheek. "Nothing's over, nothing's begun. So don't let it get to you before you begin to fight, Mamo-chan. Otherwise it's already won."

"Already won," he repeated in a hoarse whisper. "No. No, it can't win. It can't. It can't take this from me." His free fist clapped against the bloody scratch marks on his collarbone. _No one can take this from me_. _Not the world. Not my world. _He stared down at the top of Usagi's head. _Not her._

"Hey, Mamo-chan," she murmured, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. "Would the other Messiah be, like, the Messiah of Loud Noises?"

He stood there for a moment, stunned into silence; then peals of laughter tore from his throat, and he pressed his forehead against the glass, cackling madly. He broke free of her fingers to pull her head against his side, and squeezed her tight. "God, I love you, odangos."

Bashfully, she smiled up at him. "I was kind of being serious."

"I know. That's why I love you."

She giggled and wormed deeper into his arm. "If that's the case, though, the Messiah would have to be Minako."

He cawed abruptly. "Yeah, absolutely. Or Rei, she can raise a hell of a racket."

Usagi shook her head. "Mina's louder."

"No, you're kidding! Rei-chan was _designed _for intimidation, of course she has to be –"

"Have you ever even heard Minako go on one of her obsessive rants? No, you haven't. So there." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, you know, Mamo-chan, you're still bleeding."

"Yeah," he agreed, glancing down again. "That's really creepy."

But somehow he felt better, now that he'd torn through his skin. The fog in his brain, the fear, no, the terror, the deathly terror, had cleared somewhat, bringing him back to reality, back to simple things like pounding hearts and flesh and blood. Back to Usagi. And she was right. She was always right. He couldn't give in to Silence before the battle truly began.

He was ready.

* * *

So, seriously, you guys, if I start getting out of control with this taking liberties thing, _please _let me know. It's fun for me, but I don't know how it feels to read something and be like "...wtf where is she getting this from."

Thanks for reading! (And you guys have been AWESOME at reviewing recently - please please keep it up, I LOVE it!)

~SB


	27. Panacea

**Chapter 27: Panacea**

Episode 116 Recap:

Who – Usagi, Mamoru, Chibiusa, Hotaru, rose gardener dude, Mimet, rose-ish Daimohn called Ubara (why do they always repeat their own names when they attack? Ugh)

What – picnic, tour of greenhouses where gardener breeds new species of roses, thunderstorm, Daimohn attack (rofl Tux tells the Daimohn that he is "troubled by copycats"), revelation of Hotaru's kick-ass powers once again

Where – um. At. The park? And… the greenhouse?

When - …uh… now?

Why – okay this was a terrible idea. I need to stop trying to be creative.

Kay so. I'm a self-proclaimed Death Note fangirl, and, as any Death Note fangirl should, I became obsessed with MiaoShou's work. I just finished reading "Cruel and Unusual" which is SO amazing and SO heart-wrenchingly gawwgeousss… well I could ramble, but the point is it made me very sniffly and sad. In a good way. But still sad.

Also, it's written in like, first _and _second person? I don't really know what that's called – it's narrated by one person but sort of narrated _at _another, who is the "you". Maybe I should Wikipedia that or something.

Anyhoo, that's my inspiration for this chapter. In case you were, you know, desperate to know this or anything.

Oh, wait you're here for a _story? _Right. Sorry. I seem to have forgotten. ;)

* * *

Only minutes after I bid you goodbye, you appear at my door, dripping sky water and armed with what looks like a large, fabric bag of beans. Because I always carry one of those in my back pocket.

"Odangos?" I greet you, somewhat hesitantly.

"Do you have any Advil?" you ask, your voice pathetic. "I have the worst cramps."

Now, I know I'm supposed to know all about menstruation, since it _is _a vital aspect of the female reproductive system, and someone who plans to become a doctor sometime in the near future should ideally have a fair amount of knowledge on the human body. Just in case it comes up in my career, you know.

Ha. Haha. That was a joke.

…Never mind. The point is, I can't help but feel slightly disconcerted at your blatant openness in regards to your, erm, uterus. And its state of bleeding. Most people I've been around in my life never really kept me updated on the subject.

I wonder if you'll do away with menstrual cramping once you're Neo Queen Serenity. I could see you doing that. Just on the side. For the heck of it.

"Uh, sure. Come in, come in."

Delicately, you squash the water out of your pigtails onto the mat behind the front door. It makes a nice little puddle and everything. Great. Thanks. Apparently waiting to get to a sink would be too much trouble. You pad into my apartment behind me, with your characteristically loud footsteps, and while I fetch a glass of water and your pills, you stick the fabric sack in my microwave, which whizzes into action at a punch of your finger.

"Uh, Usako? What the hell _is _that thing?"

"Corn bag," you grunt, taking the water from my hand and chugging down the Advil. "Helps the cramps."

"It's full of _corn?"_

"Corn _kernels_, baka."

"Then why aren't they exploding into popcorn?" I ask sensibly, leaning forward over the counter.

"DO YOU HAVE TO ASK SO MANY QUESTIONS?" you roar without warning. Your face gets all red and scrunched up. You look kind of like a blonde tomato.

I bet if I told you that you'd explode.

"Alright, alright." Lucky I'm used to your moods while you're on your period or else I might be cowering behind a locked bedroom door. Oh wait. That happened once.

…Let's not revisit that memory, shall we?

"So," I continue. "What do you need? Tea? Cake? …kittens?"

"WHAT ARE YOU INSINUATING, YOU HORRIBLE – HORRIBLE – WHY WOULD YOU – I CAN'T EAT _KITTENS!"_

The palm of my hand gets really well acquainted with my forehead. "Usako. I meant kittens to _pet_. Purr in your lap. Happy and fuzzy. That sort of thing."

"Oh, right." You massage your temples distractedly. "Sorry."

Tentatively, I gnaw on my middle finger. "This came on kind of suddenly, huh? You were fine this afternoon."

"Well I can't just go around acting like this _all _the time," you growl, your hips falling back against the stove – which, praise the Lord, is not turned on in any way, shape, or form. "Do you realize how crazy people would think I am? If I didn't exercise some sort of self control?"

Yeah, I think I have some sort of idea. "Fair enough. Seriously, though, anything I can do?"

Your eyes get all big and wobbly and precious all of a sudden.

Shit.

"Mamo-chaaan."

"Usako…" This. Can. Not. Be. Good.

"Mamo-chan, I'm really in the mood for something… _specific_, you know?"

"And what might that be?"

"I just want to watch – "

No. No, Christ no. Not again. "USAKO!"

"Mamo-chan, puh-_lease!"_

"Usako, you've made me sit through that damn thing so many times…"

"Then you don't have to, I'll watch it by myself!" Her hands press together against her chest. "Mamoru… I – I _need _it!"

"Christ," I mutter. "You can't be serious."

"I'm five hundred and thirty two percent serious. I'm so serious I could… I could…" Your expression goes blank as you try to think of something to complete that thought. "I'm _really _serious."

After all the things I put up with. Jesus Christ. Mother of God. Various religious invocations. "Fine."

Your smile as soon as you hear my assent is almost worth it. Oh wait, except, it's not. Because if there's one thing I can't stand in the entirety of the world, Daimohns and Death Busters aside, it's that movie. _Shit_. How do I work myself into these situations?

You're already grabbing your, uh, corn bag out of the microwave and rushing over to the TV. "I brought it, and everything," you announce.

Damn, there goes my last chance for salvation.

Moments later, you're situated on the couch, throw blanket and corn bag layered on top of you, anxiously awaiting the opening credits.

And somehow, three hours later, you're in my arms, bawling your eyes out, the floor below you littered with tissues. You wail as the subtitles inform us of the hero's untimely demise. You wither into incomprehensible sobs, clutch at my shirt, drench me with an altogether unappetizing mix of fluids.

Yep, the millionth time around, I still hate this movie. But I guess that doesn't matter so much, really, when you look up at me long after the screen has gone black, your eyes finally dry and red rimmed, your nose crusted and still running slightly.

"Thanks," you mutter, your voice nasally. "I really needed that."

And then, naturally, you fall asleep on me.

With a slight sigh, I turn off the TV and pull you closer. At least you've found your panacea in sappy romantic tragedies – and what problems Titanic can't solve, well, I'd like to think that's what I'm around for. Just for the sake of my ego and everything.

And oh, that's right – also, I love you.

* * *

Yay! The fluff has healed me!

Oh, one more thing - I'm headed to the beach soon so that means **no updates for a week! *Sob* **But I daresay you'll all get along adequately without me. ;)

Love, SB

***UPDATE*** Hey, kids. Ya miss me? ;)

I'm back to bring you more ridiculous Usagi/Mamoru moments. Expect new shit by tomorrow.

And have some blueberry pancakes as my apology for skipping out on you for, what, two years? Bah. I'm a jerk.

Anyway... here we go. :D


	28. Together

Episode 117

Recap: Hotaru, Usagi, and Chibiusa pay a visit to jump-over-the-bar-thing athlete Hayase-kun. So does Mimet. Crazy Daimohn at one point pushes Hayase across the track going "ROLL THE HUMAN." I died. Also, Hayase was at one point frail like Hotaru. How sentimental. You get the picture.

Oh, and also at the beginning there's this nice intro with Tux narrating how the Outers are more powerful than the Inners. Whatever.

Question: HOW DOES NO ONE NOTICE THAT THERE'S STILL NO SAILOR SATURN? Yeesh.

* * *

I LOVE YOU ALL AND HERE IT IS FINALLY AND IT'S FLUFFY AND STUPID BECAUSE OF REASONS.

* * *

She put on her angriest face and rapped at his door.

Five minutes and no response later, she clumped back down the hall to the elevator. Punching the lobby button, she chewed on her pigtail and glared at her reflection in the metallic door.

She oughtn't take out her frustrations at her own failings on him, but it was easier to be fake-angry at him than real-guilty at herself. And it was just… scary. Things were scary. Staring at Mimet and the Daimohn sprinting away with a pure heart. What they'd do with it – what _would _they do with it, if they'd really escaped? And that blast of power – from Hotaru-chan…

She'd seen Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna watching Hotaru from afar. She knew they were thinking what she was thinking. The difference was they wanted it to be true, while she didn't. If Hotaru was the Messiah…

She shook her head, scattering – _dispersing, _Ami-chan, there, wasn't that impressive? – her thoughts with the flapping of her hair. As she left the apartment complex, her stomach grumbled loudly, and she fished in her bag to see if she had any cash. She beamed at the money she found there, and decided perhaps it had been too long since she'd had a burger at the Crown. And beat the entire Sailor V game in one sitting.

* * *

Her guard was down as she clumped into the arcade, strands of hair caught on her lips and bangs raked across her forehead, still deeply immersed in her musings. She frowned between the games and the food, caught in a treacherous rift of decision-making. As she mulled over her growling stomach and twitching fingers, a laugh jumped toward her, and she looked up, alarmed by its familiarity.

Her eyebrows snapped down in a sharp V. "Baaa-kaa," she muttered to herself, stomping towards him, game face on once more.

Motoki noticed her first and shoveled his handful of Mamoru's fries into his mouth before waving enthusiastically. "Usagi-chan! It's been a while, hm?"

She winked at Motoki in response and quickly replaced her glower as Mamoru turned in his seat, grinning. "Hey, Usak-" He cut off abruptly, registering her expression. "Ohhhkay, someone's on the war path…"

"What did you do this time, Mamoru?" Motoki laughed, stealing a few more fries and swirling them in mustard.

Usagi leaned forward, one hand on her hip, jabbing her finger into his shoulder. "_Why," _she demanded, "are you always in the _last place _that I look for you?"

Motoki choked.

"I'd have a difficult time being in the second-to-last place you looked, now wouldn't I?" Mamoru replied, nonplussed.

"Why's that!" she cried.

Motoki choked again.

"SHUT UP!" Usagi screeched at him, and he cowered back, solemn-faced.

Usagi turned back to Mamoru. "Why's that, baka?"

"Usako," said Mamoru blandly, "if you found me, you would stop looking."

"Exactly!"

He exchanged a Look with Motoki. Usagi fumed.

"Seriously, Usagi-chan, what's bothering you?" Motoki seemed to have recovered from her attack and leaned forward across the counter on his elbows.

She grumbled incoherently to herself and dropped onto a seat next to Mamoru.

"One of those days," said Mamoru, to no one in particular, with an air of great wisdom and no small amount of facetiousness.

He really knew how to make her feel better, didn't he. "No thanks to _you_," she spat.

Motoki mumbled something about feeling thirsty and shuffled away.

Affronted, Mamoru turned to her. "What did _I _do? Besides being somewhat unintentionally elusive?"

Lord, the way he talked could drive her up the wall sometimes. Did he understand how pretentious he sounded? "_You _weren't – you weren't _there_!" she shrieked, as loudly as she could without compromising anything important, like her identity or Mamoru's ear drums.

"You've been doing well lately," he shrugged. "You can handle it fine on your own."

She fumed at him. When had this stopped being for show and become real anger?

Maybe when he opened his mouth and she realized he was an asshole. That might have something to do with it.

"Yes," she seethed, "yes, clearly I can handle it, when Mimet and her Daimohn are running away _with a pure heart_, that is an obvious sign that I can handle it."

Horror washed over Mamoru's face. "Mim – they – _what?"_

"Oh, _now _he's concerned," she said loudly, "_now _he cares enough to focus less on making smart little comments and more on…" She would have been quite explicit with what he should have been caring about, exactly, but remembered just in time that they were in public.

"So she got away?" he whispered, his face gone pale and sweaty.

"She was _about _to," said Usagi shortly.

Mamoru withered in relief. "But she didn't."

She bristled at how easily he was reassured. "And do you know why?"

He frowned at her, uncertain.

"Hotaru-chan," Usagi murmured.

His eyes widened. "She…?"

"I destroyed the Daimohn," said Usagi. "But I only got the chance to because of – because of her."

Mamoru groaned and dropped his head into his palms, massaging his scalp with tetchy fingertips. "Not one of those things that goes away if you ignore it, I suppose…"

"No," said Usagi simply.

He shook his head, mute for a moment. "If I hadn't had an exam today – I would have noticed, I would have come, I just… I must have been focused too hard on studying to realize what was happening." He lifted his eyes to hers. "Usako… I'm sorry…"

"Murmfgumbr," she said, her face buried in her arms.

"What?" He lifted a pigtail away from her face.

"It's my fault," she repeated, her voice still muffled. "I just never… I never get it right, I can never do it by myself… I can never do it right."

She heard Mamoru sigh quietly, and felt him release her pigtail. "Do you remember the first night you fought a youma?"

Ugh. Drawing on memories that seemed so brittle and taffy-stuck to her brain made her head feel funny – stretched, distorted. "Yeah." She smirked a little into her wrists. "I cried a lot."

"There's an understatement," Mamoru chuckled. "What else do you remember?"

"Not a lot," Usagi admitted, turning her head to look at him sideways. "It all blurred together, I was so scared, I had no idea what to do."

"But it worked out alright, in the end."

"Sure," she said gruffly, "because of you. Without you I'd've been youma meat."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does. Meat that the youma eats."

"That would make you meat that the youma eats, not meat _of _a youma."

She rolled her eyes. "So what?"

"Oh," said Mamoru. "Well, I guess all I mean is… even those first few nights, without Ami, you weren't alone."

She blinked at him, her eyes big and wide and soft.

"It's funny," he said with a dry laugh, "how we can all feel so detached from each other – when our strength lies so obviously in our numbers." He set a hand between her odangos and rubbed her hair gently. "You were never meant to do this by yourself, Usako. Even from the start."

He was always there. She stared at him and he stared at her and she felt herself fall in love with him again. It was too easy to forget how much he could get on her nerves; that all vanished when he spoke like this.

"I love you," he said quietly, "and I'll be there next time. We'll fight this together, the way we were supposed to." The way we always have, he didn't say, but that didn't keep her from flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder.

"I love you too, Mamo-chan." So, so much.

* * *

I wanted to incorporate something from the first episode because I just rewatched it and I was like HOLY SHIT WAS USAGI EVER OBNOXIOUS. And I think she grew tremendously to arrive in the third season, so yeah. That.

Thanks for waiting for me, you guys. 3 All the loves. ALL OF THEM.

~ SB


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